Hermione Granger and the SPEW Office
by jdg9813
Summary: "Sequel to Hermione Granger and the Final Year"   Hermione has her new job in the S.P.E.W office with mystery happening all around her whilst she's trying to plan her dream muggle wedding to Ron.
1. Chapter 1

**Day One**

Hermione Granger stared at herself in the mirror to check that she looked her best for her first day of work. The Minister for Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt, had offered her a job at the Ministry in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures a few months previously after she had received all of her qualifications and abolished the law that said house elves weren't allowed to use wands. She was wearing her best blouse, a pinstriped suit and skirt and heels that she could just barely walk in. She stepped out of the door of her new farmhouse, beaded bag in hand (made sure her crup, Leontes, was in his cage and that her cat, Crookshanks, was well away from her pigmy puff, Zelda, and the owl, Pigwidgeon) along with her fiancé, Ron, they kissed and apparated to where they needed to be, Ron, to his brothers joke shop, Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, and Hermione, to the entrance of the Ministry of Magic.

She walked into the public toilets that had one sign on the door that said: _Ladies_, and another one that said: _Out of Order_. She lined up behind the other Ministry witches waiting until she could get into a cubicle. Finally, her turn arrived and she stepped into the cubicle and stared at the surprisingly clean toilet and placed one foot within it, she did the same with the other foot so that she stood within the toilet, then she pulled the chain and flushed herself down.

Hermione appeared in a fireplace in a swirl of bright, green flames, she saw other people arrive the same way beside her and other people leave through fireplaces in the opposite wall. She stepped out onto the gleaming floor, allowing other people to arrive behind her, she walked along with the crowd that contained every different kind of witch and wizard imaginable, she soaked in her surroundings, feeling slightly overwhelmed by it all and noting that this was the first time that she was in the Ministry whilst being _allowed_ in. She noticed the rebuilt fountain of the golden witch, wizard, house elf, goblin and centaur with water coming out of anything pointed (The witch's and wizard's wands, the elf's ears, the goblin's hat and the centaur's arrow).

Hermione walked on until something caught her eye, a plump woman holding a sign that said: _Hermione Granger_ on it. She walked up to the woman,

"Um, hello," she said, trying to maintain the illusion of confidence in her voice, "Are you waiting for me?"

"That depends," said the plump woman in a stern yet calm voice, "Are you Hermione Granger?" she asked,

"Yes." Hermione replied,

"Then I am waiting for you, good to meet you Miss Granger, I am Camilla Colinson, I have been sent to show you to your new office." she said,

"Office?" asked Hermione, excitement flooding through her,

"Yes, Miss Granger, an office, this way." Camilla then whizzed off in one direction, Hermione struggled to keep up, especially in these shoes, Camilla was plump but she sure was speedy.

Hermione was led to the lift were she went down to floor four where a voice said,

"Floor four, Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures" Camilla and Hermione stepped out with a few other people and was led to a door with a name tag on it that said:_ Hermione Granger_.

"Welcome, Miss Granger," started Camilla, "to your new office." she opened the door and turned on the light to reveal an octagon-shaped room with plain stone walls, book cases with books about magical creatures and the history of the department (nothing Hermione hadn't already read before), a desk with all kinds of wizarding stationary on it, fresh parchment, quills, ink (etc.). Hermione sat in the comfortable, leather chair that was behind her desk and spun around in it, laughing, "Feel free to decorate it as you wish, assuming you don't need anything else, I shall be leaving." Hermione stopped spinning and nodded, Camilla walked back in the direction of the lift.

She then heard a knock at the door and spoke in her most business-like voice,

"Come in." It was at that moment that her best friend, Harry Potter, entered the room,

"So, are you enjoying it so far?" he asked,

"Yeah, look, I have my own office, with walls and a desk and quills, look how amazing these quills are." she said holding a quill and putting it down again, she was a bit overexcited.

"Yeah, they're amazing," said Harry, humoring her, "Is there anything that you need to know?"

"Yes, just one thing, one tiny thing, what do I actually do?" she asked casually,

"Well, your boss, that's the head of department, should be along soon to assign you." he informed her,

"You're lucky, you know your boss, I'll probably have some uptight, cranky pratt with a God complex and an arrogantly large wallet.' Hermione snorted, they then heard someone clear their throat,

"Hello, I think that I should introduce myself, I would be an uptight, cranky pratt with a God complex and an arrogantly large wallet." said a man who appeared from behind the door.

Harry slipped out of the room which left Hermione with her new boss who she had insulted on her first day, he then stepped forward and started laughing,

"I'm just kidding," he said, "I'm not the boss, I'm from the department, but from a different division, I believe you're the head of this office."

"What?" asked Hermione shocked,

"Yes, it's a new office in the Being Division created by Shacklebolt, I think it's the spew office or something?" he wondered,

"Yes, the S.P.E.W Office." Hermione corrected him.

"Well, bye then." he said,

"Wait, don't go, what do I do?" she asked frantically,

"Well, right now, all of the heads of Office should be in a meeting in the main office which starts in about…now." he explained, Hermione got up and asked,

"Where is the main office?"

She received her directions from the man in her office and made it to the main office, she walked in to a room with a long table with many chairs around it, Hermione sat in the empty one that she assumed was hers. The man at the top of the table spoke, Hermione assumed that he was her boss, he looked like the kind of man who could be very kind but you wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of him, she sensed a hint of crazy in his eye.

"I want to talk about what each of you have for me that I haven't heard since our last meeting," he said in a commanding yet gentle voice, "Well, might as well start with the new girl, you, bushy one," he pointed at Hermione, "What does your office hope to achieve?" Hermione was completely caught off guard, for a second she couldn't remember what S.P.E.W was, then she took a deep breath and spoke,

"Well, sir, my office is called S.P.E.W which you my not know stands for the society for the promotion of elfish welfare, see, the fact that house elves are used as slave labour and I intend to do something about it, I have already abolished the law that states that elves can't use wands and I hope to abolish and enforce many more, I want the conditions they work in to be better, I want them to be able to work in clothes, get paid, get sick-leave and holidays, I want them to have equal rights, go to school and work because their lives are just as important as ours and they deserve our proper, considering attention." Hermione realized that someway during that speech of hers she had stood up, her boss stared at her as she heard a single clap from the other employees and suddenly, they were all clapping,

"Well done, Miss…?" he asked,

"Granger, sir, Hermione Granger." Hermione replied.

"Nice to meet you Hermione Granger, I'm Mr. Sadderick, you can sit down now." he said and Hermione did so and with that, the clapping faded.

After everyone had explained their recent work in the meeting, some of which Hermione found quite fascinating, and Hermione had filled out pile of paperwork that contained questions about her, her office and what she would be doing, Hermione went down to level two, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, to have lunch with Harry and Neville. Hermione had brought a packed lunch from home, which made her feel rather like she was in a muggle school, and sat down with the two of them at a table and they started chatting about various things,

"Are you two coming tonight?" Harry asked,

"Where?" asked Hermione,

"To the Quidditch match, its Ginny's first game as a Holyhead Harpy." said Harry,

"Oh that's right, I almost forgot, yes, I'll be there." Hermione told him,

"What about you Neville?" he asked,

"Hmmm... Yeah, I should be able to make it." he said, "Who's she against then?"

"Ballycastle Bats." Harry told him,

"Oh, I hear they have quite a good chance." Neville said, Hermione, of course, had know idea what they were talking about as her Quidditch knowledge was dreadful, she did learn a bit more living with Ron but Harry and Neville were now talking about stats and statistics and to Hermione it all sounded like absolute gibberish.

Back in her office, Hermione was drawing up a poster in support of S.P.E.W, it contained information about the organization and what people could do to help, she finished it after a while and then she whipped out her wand, muttered a spell and suddenly two giant pile of the same poster appeared on her desk.

She went up to the main floor of the Ministry, holding a fraction of the posters, and started to hand them out. Some people scoffed or looked at her like she was insane, others pretended to be interested, took one, and then, when they thought Hermione wasn't looking, though it away. There were a couple who seemed genuinely interested, shame that they were some of the most insane looking people that Hermione had seen in her life. She had already forced Neville and Harry to take some and she had stuck them up all around her floor and some other places around the Ministry, hoping that someone would come across it and have some sort of epiphany.

Later on she had another meeting with only a few people where she passed on a list to her boss of all of the laws that she wanted changing and they discussed them, some more people on this floor took an interest in it, Hermione had already convinced a large number of Ministry officials to help abolish a law and it helped being friendly with the Minister for Magic. They talked about how this could be achieved, several hearings would have to take place and she would again have to convince more people to support her which was proving to be difficult.

Hermione worked for another couple of hours until the clocks chimed five o'clock and it was time for Hermione to go home, she couldn't wait to see Ron and she had Ginny's Quidditch match to look forward to. She made her way to the lift looking slightly less primped than she had done in the morning and she went up to the main floor. She went to the exit side of the fire places, grabbed some floo powder, stepped in, muttered her address and disappeared into green flames.

She appeared in her own house now and walked out of the fire place, she let Leontes out of his cage and he ran of to the garden where he occupied himself with a tennis ball that Hermione had charmed to throw itself, and she sat on the sofa. Crookshanks jumped onto her lap, Hermione stroked him and he purred. She heard keys in the door and Ron entered the living room shortly afterwards,

"Hey, how was your first day of work?" he asked,

"Not bad, did you know that I head my own office?" Hermione replied.


	2. Chapter 2

**First Match**

Hermione changed into more casual, comfortable clothes for the Quidditch match, she wasn't exactly a fan of Quidditch but she had always gone to the games at Hogwarts and now she was going to support one of her best friends.

"You ready?" Ron asked,

"Yeah." she replied and turned around to see that Ron was dressed in a scarf and hat of dark green and gold (Holyhead Harpies team colours) and had painted his face, one half was gold and the other half was dark green with a golden talon painted on the cheek, "Don't you look…great." said Hermione half-heartedly,

"What? I thought that I'd make an effort." he said,

"And an effort you made indeed." she smirked, "So, are we apparating straight there or…what?" she asked,

"No, we're going to the Burrow first and then apparating with Harry, Mum and Dad." Ron said, "Are you sure you don't want a bit of face-paint?" he asked,

"No thanks, but I will take this, it's cold out," she said as she took the scarf from around Ron's neck and put it around her own, "Shall we be off then?" she asked, Ron then held out his arm, Hermione grabbed it and they vanished from their surroundings and appeared in front of Ron's childhood home, the Burrow.

The two of them walked in through the front door to be greeted by Harry, who had made the same effort as Ron, and they stepped into the kitchen, which was the central room of the house, where they found Mr. Weasley (who no longer worked at Hogwarts), Mrs. Weasley and Neville.

"Oh, there he is, my son and soon to be daughter-in-law." said Mrs. Weasley, Mr. Weasley shook Hermione's hand and soon enough the six of them dissapparated.

They appeared outside of a Quidditch pitch in a secluded area,

"Is Ginny already inside then?" asked Hermione,

"Yeah, she's been training all day, all week in fact, for this, we barely get to see her." said Harry. They walked into the stadium, handed in the tickets that Ginny had gotten free for them and found a place in the stands with the many screaming fans who anticipated the start of the game. Whilst there they met Bill and Fleur, Fleur was holding little baby Victoire who was dressed in tiny Holyhead Harpies Quidditch robes, Hermione had to admit that it looked adorable, they also met Percy and his fiancée, Audrey and Ron's brother George.

Suddenly a booming voice filled the arena,

"Ladies and gentlemen please welcome the Ballycastle Bats!" the applause grew louder at this and seven people zoomed into the air with black robes with scarlet bat logos on them and their mascot, Barney the Fruitbat, danced. The booming voice once again filled the arena and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, the Holyhead Harpies!" and at this the crowd grew even louder and Hermione cheered as did the people around her, the fans played harps and leprechauns danced an Irish jig in the stands as the team flew onto the pitch, Hermione saw Ginny in her dark green robes with a golden talon emblazoned on her chest, she also recognised Gwenog Jones, who she had met several times the previous year, and Angelina Johnson, George's girlfriend.

The voice returned and said,

"LET THE MATCH BEGIN!" The Bludgers, the quaffle and the golden snitch were released into the pitch and the teams dispersed as the crowd cheered for them, "AND ALREADY WE'RE OF TO A GOOD START AS JONATHON WELLARD GRABS THE QUAFFLE AND HEADS TO THE HOOP, HE'S GOING FOR IT, HE'S GOING TO THROW IT AND, OH, NICE SHOT THERE FROM GWENOG JONES, WELLARD IS TAKEN DOWN, THE QUAFFLE'S DROPPING AND, YES, VALMAI MORGAN HAS CAUGHT IT, SHE PASSES IT TO NEWBIE, GINNY WEASLEY, AND SHE ABSOLUTELY ZOOMS ACROSS THE PITCH, SHE'S A BLUR, SHE PASSES AND IT'S CAUGHT BY ANGELINA JOHNSON WHO SCORES, YES, THAT'S TEN POINTS TO TH HOLYHEAD HARPIES, THE BATS BETTER SHARPEN UP IF THEY WANT TO WIN!" The scores went up on both sides for an hour, Ginny was amazing, the whole team was, they were in the lead but the Ballycastle Bats weren't that far behind.

"JULIAN SUTTON HEADS A BLUDGER AND, OUCH, THAT HAD TO HURT FOR VALMAI MORGAN, HANS TRIBECK GETS HOLD OF THE QUAFFLE AND HE SCORES MAKING THE SCORES NINETY TO THE BALLYCASTLE BATS ANS ONE HUNDRED AND TEN TO THE HOLYHEAD HARPIES, THEY'RE CATCHING UP GIRLS, WHICH DOESN'T SEEM TO MATTER TO GINNY WEASLEY BECAUSE SHE HAS THE QUAFFLE AND SHE HEADS FOR THE HOOP, JULIAN FIRES A BLUDGER AND, OH, GREAT DODGE BY THE NEWBIE, AND SHE SCORES GIVING THE HOLYHEAD HARPIES ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY POINTS WHERE THE BATS STILL HAVE NINETY!" Another half an hour passed and the two teams kept going in and out of the lead and were neck and neck for most of it.

"WHAT'S THAT, THE SNITCH, THAT'S THE FIRST WE'VE SEEN OF IT ALL MATCH AND BATS SEEKER, NEIL MCFLYNN ZOOMS OVER TO IT, HIS HAND REACHING OUT, VALMAI MORGAN SCORES, GINNY WEASLEY CATCHES IT ON THE OTHER SIDE AND SCORES AGAIN WHICH PUTS THE HARPIES AND TWO HUNDRED AND FORTY WITH THE BATS AT TWO HUNDRED AND TEN BUT NONE OF THAT WILL MATTER IF THEY CATCH THE SNITCH, MCFLYNN IS CLOSE AND, OW, THAT REALLY HAD TO HURT THERE FOR MCFLYNN, GREAT SHOT FROM ROCHELE APPLEWHITE AND THE HARPY SEEKER, MARIANNA ROMAIN IS ALL OVER THAT SNITCH, THE BATS SCORE IN THE HOOP BUT ROMAIN HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH, THE GAME IS OVER WITH THE HOLYHEAD HARPIES AT THREE HUNDRED AND NINETY AND THE BALLYCASTLE BATS AT JUST TWO HUNDRED AND TWENTY, I CAN PROUDLY SAY THAT THE HOLYHEAD HARPIES WIN!" the green segment of the crowd cheered as the girls took a victory lap and shamed the Ballycastle Bats off of the pitch, Leprechauns danced more merry, harps played louder, happier music and Barney the Fruitbat hung his head and walked away.

Ginny finally came off of the pitch and she met the rest of them outside with Angelina Johnson, they were now in their casual clothes, so that she could be congratulated,

"Amazing, you were amazing." said Harry before kissing her; she went round hugging everyone one by one,

"Well, we best be getting home now dear, well done though, a great game." said Mrs. Weasley as she a and Mrs. Weasley dissapparated, everyone eventually left until just Hermione, Ron, Harry, Ginny and Neville were left,

"So, should we go somewhere for a bite?" asked Ginny, "Haven't really eaten all day."

"Sure." said Harry, "You guys coming?" They all nodded.

"All right come on then." said Ginny, they grabbed hands and suddenly appeared in an alley, they all walked up it and were standing outside of a café.

They walked in and found a table that sat five,

"So, what did you think?" asked Ginny,

"You were great." said Ron,

"Yeah, really fast." said Neville,

"That's because Harry let me borrow his Lightening Bolt." said Ginny, "It's amazing."

"When's your next game?" asked Hermione,

"Oh, it should be in October, the first, I think, I get time off of training for a little while until the next game comes up." said Ginny.

They all ordered and talked about random things,

"Luna sent her love for the game via owl." said Ginny and Neville let out a small whimper,

"What was that?" asked Harry,

"What, that, it was…nothing, so, Luna wrote to you, huh? That's nice." said Neville,

"Was it because I mentioned Luna?" asked Ginny,

"No, no, no, I'm so over her, don't miss her at all, I have _moved _on." he said nervously,

"You know, she'll be back in like, what, eight months, you will be seeing her again." said Hermione,

"I don't want to see her again, she's the one who left, why should I care?" he said sounding annoyed,

"Well, you were going out for a year." said Ron,

"Yes and for most of that year she was at Hogwarts and we never really got that close so will you _please_ just drop it and change the subject" he pleaded,

"Fine, yes, of course," said Ginny, "Let's talk about the wedding."

"What, our wedding, we haven't really planned anything yet?" said Hermione,

"No, it'll Percy's wedding in a few of weeks, did you guys not know?" asked Ginny,

"Oh, I knew, I just didn't really care." said Ron,

"Well I'm sure we'll all be there." said Hermione,

"But, you know, you're wedding, you've really made _no_ plans, any? Whatsoever?" asked Ginny eagerly,

"No, I don't think so." said Hermione,

"Not one _tiny_ little plan, say, who you're going to ask as, oh, I don't know, bridesmaids." Hermione could sense Ginny's hinting and caved,

"Fine, Ginny, will you be my Maid of Honor?" asked Hermione,

"What, really? I was just trying to be a bridesmaid but Maid of Honour; I'm so, well, honoured." said Ginny in genuine shock,

"Oh, that reminds me," said Ron, "Harry, you'll be my Best Man won't you?" Harry nodded,

"Ron," said Hermione, "You've been best friends with Harry for eight years, you get engaged, and it takes you this long to ask him to be your Best Man?" now Ron nodded.

Hermione turned back to Ginny,

"Yes, anyway, I thought that the bridesmaids could be Luna," Neville whimpered again, "and Demelza, speaking of her, I haven't seen her in ages." Hermione pointed out,

"No, me neither, not since she started her healer training at St. Mungo's College." said Ginny,

"St. Mungo's has a college?" asked Harry,

"Yes, that's were most healers at St. Mungo's train, that's where Demelza's going to work once she's graduated which should take her about four years." Hermione explained,

"Four years? Is it really worth it?" asked Ron, Hermione ignored him.

After their meal everybody went home, Hermione just couldn't wait to get home. When she did get there she went upstairs and ran a bath, she needed a little relaxation. She lay there in bubbles and thought how she'd earned it, she had had a long day that day and now all she wanted to do was to go to sleep in a big, warm bed.

After her bath she got dressed into her pyjamas, drained the tub, brushed her teeth and got under the covers, Ron lying next to her, Hermione's head barely touched the pillow before she was asleep; it had been a _very_ long day.


	3. Chapter 3

**A Birthday and a Wedding**

Hermione had been working at the Ministry for a few weeks now and today was one of her days off; she woke up, her face buried in the pillow, she turned around to spot that Ron was not lying next to her. She took a moment to wonder where he had gone and then he came walking through the bedroom door holding a tray,

"Happy Birthday!" he exclaimed, "I made you breakfast in bed." he said, she sat up and he handed her the tray, she put it on her lap and looked at it, it was pancakes covered in maple syrup, a cup of tea and a small vase with a flower stuck in it, Hermione could tell that it had taken Ron a lot of effort to do this and she smiled out of appreciation.

As she tucked in, Ron sat on the bed, next to her, Ron spoke,

'You don't have to do anything today, I'll take care of it all, I'll take Leontes for his walk, I'll feed him, Crookshanks, Pigwidgeon and Zelda, I'll do all the chores and tonight, I'm taking you to dinner."

"Where are we going?" she asked him,

"Well, I haven't thought _that _far ahead." he said, Hermione smirked.

After she had eaten her pancakes, Hermione went downstairs, she picked up the post, she only had one letter. She opened it and realised what it was, a wedding invitation:

_Dear Ronald and Hermione_

_You are formally invited to the wedding of:_

_Percy Weasley and Audrey Hennessey_

_To be held on the 24th of September_

Hermione got the address of the church that it was being held at and showed it to Ron,

"What a show off," he said, "Promise me that you won't plan our wedding to be so…pompous, now come into the living room and open your presents." he led Hermione off into the living room where she found a stack of presents around the sofa, she sat on it and started to tear wrapping paper.

From her parents she received an envelope, in it was a birthday card and in the card was a cheque with quite a large sum of money on it, it was to pay for the wedding according to the note accompanying it,

"What are we going to do with that?" Ron asked, "Its muggle money."

"Well, we're having a muggle wedding Ron." she told him,

"Really, why?" he asked,

"Well, my entire family are muggles and they don't know that I'm a witch apart from my mum and dad." she explained,

"So, no magic, none at all, won't that be boring?" he complained, Hermione rolled her eyes and carried on with her presents.

From Ginny she received a new work outfit, a sharp black cloak, blouse, skirt, tights and stylish new shoes. From Harry she got a book entitled: _Hogwarts: A History- second edition_, Hermione was not aware that the second edition had been released, when flicking through it she could see events that she, herself had lived through.

She received a tin of homemade biscuits from Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and a _Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes Variety Pack_ from George which contained various joke items from his shop in Diagon Alley.

That night Hermione got whisked away in a horse drawn carriage along with Ron who had organized it and they were taken to the restaurant where they ate dinner and were served birthday cake where the waiters sang to her and she blew out the candles.

Hermione had put on a dress and Ron, a suit, for Percy's wedding,

"Do we have to go to this?" asked Ron,

"He's your brother, so yes." Hermione ordered, "Plus your mum is making everybody go."

"Knowing Percy it'll be the most boring event we've ever attended, just like those _awful_ birthday parties that mum used to let Percy plan himself, I had to suffer through those, I think I've paid my dues." he ranted,

"Well, we still have to go, maybe Audrey is more fun." Hermione tried,

"How fun can you possibly be with a name like _Audrey_?" said Ron,

"There'll probably be alcohol." she said,

"Well, I suppose that could make it slightly more bearable." Ron conceded,

"Come on, let's go." at that, they dissapparated.

They appeared at the church and sat through the ceremony, you could tell how popular Percy was compared to Audrey by looking at the guests, one side of the church was filled with friends and family. The other sat, Mr. Weasley, Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Fleur, Victoire, Charlie, George, Angelina, Ron, Hermione, Harry and Ginny, all of whom were made to come by Mrs. Weasley.

They said their vows and Percy kissed the bride and it was on with the reception, they had dinner and people made speeches. This was lots more fun with music and dancing and people talking, Hermione saw Ron's second oldest brother, Charlie, begin to dance with one of Audrey's cousins and Hermione was enjoying her slice of wedding cake.

When the cake had been revealed, the cloth had been lifted with a wave of Mrs. Weasley's wand, it had quite a few layers and the miniature bride and groom on top, in truth it tasted quite bland.

The decorations in the hall were quite nice, ice sculptures of swans, cherubs and various symbols of love. They had expensive looking china, banners on the wall that said things such as: _Congratulations Audrey and Percy_, or: _Good Luck on your journey together._ There were also hearts on the walls being pursued by Cupid's arrow.

Ron came up to Hermione and asked in a phony, posh voice,

"Would madam care to dance?"

"Why I would be delighted." said Hermione continuing with the fake posh voice, they got out onto the floor and danced, Ron was not terribly good, as he stepped on Hermione's feet quite a lot and tripped a fair bit, "I think we should take lessons at some point." said Hermione,

"What?" asked Ron,

"Dancing lessons," Hermione told him, "For the wedding, our first dance as a married couple, I just think it would be better if by the end of the night, my shoes have your tread marks all over them."

"Okay, sounds good, but did you ever consider that you might be the one who's the bad dancer?" asked Ron jokingly,

"No, I did not, last year I won a dance contest with Ginny at the Halloween dance, that was the night when…um…_nothing_ else happened." that was the night where Ginny gave Hermione a love potion induced kiss which she had purposefully neglect to tell Ron.

Hermione joined in on the conga line towards the end of the night, she held on to Ron's shoulders as Ginny held on to Hermione's. it wasn't long before people started to leave and the slow, romantic music was playing, Hermione leaned her head on Ron's shoulder and danced with him. Finally the remaining guests lined up, side by side, in two rows as the newlyweds ran through them and they through confetti over the two.

The happy couple left the reception in a carriage that pulled itself all of Percy's guests went back to the Burrow,

"Another son of ours married and one of them engaged they're moving fast Arthur, soon we'll have none left, and then we can celebrate." said Mrs. Weasley to Mr. Weasley at the kitchen table.

Hermione talked with Ginny,

"I think that we should go up and visit Demelza soon." Ginny was saying, "We can spend the night in her dorm."

"Yes, and then we can go shopping for dresses." said Hermione,

"Will that be right without Luna?" asked Ginny,

"To be honest I think that if we pick out her dress for her it will force her not to show out at my wedding dressed as a dirigible plum or whatever." said Hermione, "You know her dress sizes, right?"

"Yeah." Ginny nodded.

"Have you made any plans in the last few weeks since I last asked?" asked Ginny,

"No actually, I haven't, you know what, when we go dress shopping with Demelza, we'll start to plan." Hermione suggested,

"Okay," replied Ginny, "So, do you have any ideas for the date?" Ginny continued,

"Date, what date?" asked Hermione,

"The date of the wedding, have you thought about when in the year it's going to be?" Ginny explained,

"Oh, right, well, I guess that I want a summer wedding, perhaps, June or July?" Hermione thought.

"Well, I know what part that _I_ shall be planning." said Ginny,

"What?" asked Hermione,

"I said, I know what part _I'll_ be planning." Ginny repeated,

"Yes, I heard that, what I meant was, what part will you be planning?" asked Hermione,

"Well, as your Maid of Honour, it is my duty to plan your hen party." said Ginny,

"What did you have in mind?" Hermione asked,

"I can't tell you, I want it all to be a surprise, Luna should be back by then so she's invited." said Ginny.

Once people had started to go to bed, Hermione decided that it was time for them to head on home, and they did so. Once there, Hermione got out her quill and parchment and started writing a letter to Demelza asking her if she and Ginny could come up to St. Mungo's college and if she would be Hermione's bridesmaid. She used Pigwidgeon to send it and awaited a response.

A few days later Hermione received a response:

_Dear Hermione,_

_ Of course you and Ginny can come and stay hear for a night, I've missed you guys since I got here, a shame that Luna can't come, here it's all just lectures and fairly boring dorm mates who take everything to seriously. I would very much love to be your bridesmaid, I can't wait for the wedding, you and Ron seem perfect for each other. I can't wait to go dress shopping, there's quite a good shopping scene around here, some nice dress shops. I've made lots of progress since I left and have learned so much. I've set a date aside for when you can come, be there on the evening of 12th October. Miss you much,_

_ Love From,_

_ Demelza Robins xoxo_


	4. Chapter 4

**Interviews**

Hermione was fitting in very well at her job, but the work load was too much for a single person to do, she needed to hire someone in her office, an assistant, and today she would personally interview each candidate. She wanted someone who was as passionate about helping house elves as Hermione was, that was proving very hard to find.

She went to work that morning as usual; she flushed herself down the toilet and walked on to her office. Soon enough, there came a knock on her door and her first candidate entered her office.

"Hello, and you are?" Hermione asked the woman who had sat down opposite her, she wore a dress that looked like it was woven out of straw and a matching bandana,

"I am Waterfall." said the woman.

"Waterfall, your name is Waterfall?" asked Hermione trying not to sound insulting,

"Yes, is that a problem?" asked Waterfall,

"No, it's just an unusual name." said Hermione,

"I chose it myself, I felt the energy of the universe guiding me to that name." she said,

"Well, what's your last name?" asked Hermione,

"It is Waterfall." she said,

"So your name is Waterfall Waterfall." said Hermione, she could tell that this candidate was completely insane,

"No, Waterfall is my name, first and last." she said, Hermione saw there be no point in interviewing any further with this woman, but she didn't want to be rude,

"So," Hermioine continued, "Why do you want to take this job?"

"Well, house elf cruelty is a large concern of mine," then again, Hermione shouldn't have been so quick to judge, "And I just want a chance to…" she paused, she sniffed, "Do I smell...oh no…what is that?" she pointed at the bacon sandwich that Hermione had picked up on the way to work as she didn't have time to grab breakfast that morning, it now lay on the desk,

"It's a bacon sandwich.' Hermione replied,

"Meat, so, you eat meat?" she said in a judgmental tone,

"Yes but…" Hermione was cut off,

"I'm sorry, but I cannot work with someone who would do something like this, good day to you and goodbye." she stormed out and Hermione was just left to mutter,

"So I guess you don't want any then?"

Hermione's first candidate had been an absolute disaster and she hoped for better in the next few hours, she hoped. Hermione waited a while until her door knocked for the second time that day, a man entered.

The man was tall, had a thick moustache and a monocle over his left eye. He sat down opposite Hermione and said,

"Is this the place for the assistant job?" he asked in a posh accent,

"Yes, this is the S.P.E.W office, what is your name?" asked Hermione,

"My name is Edgar Roshington, you must be Miss Granger.' he said,

"Yes, I am, so, why do you want this job?" asked Hermione,

"Well, I think that enforcing harsher punishment on house elves is the best way to…" he started,

"I'm sorry; you want to _punish_ house elves?" Hermione was sure either she or he had misunderstood,

"Yes, not all of this wishy washy nonsense about allowing them to use wands." he said,

"What do you think S.P.E.W is?" Hermione asked,

"Well, is it not the society for the punishment of the elf workforce?" he asked,

"No, it's for _helping_ house elves, I'm the one who abolished that law." Hermione explained, "Sir, I think that you had better leave." Hermione instructed, he did so, looking disappointed that house elves would be helped.

That was Hermione's second disaster, but Hermione thought of that saying, third times the charm, and prayed to God that there were wisdom behind those words. The door once again knocked and a girl entered.

She did not look any older than sixteen years old,

"Um are you sure that you're qualified for this job?" asked Hermione as the girl sat down,

"Yeah, I didn't, like, complete 'ogwarts, bu' like, I did my whole fifth year and got, like, a whole O.W.L." she explained, she was dressed modernly and her hair was blonde and oddly cut.

"_A_ whole O.W.L, as in one?" asked Hermione,

"Yeah, you got a problem wiv vat?" she asked whilst putting up a tough exterior,

"No, no, no problem at all, so, what's your name?" Hermione continued,

"Kelsey, Kelsey Hopper." she replied,

"Okay, and why do you want to work in the S.P.E.W office?" asked Hermione,

"Well, I, like, fink vat workin' as an assistant would be, like, really easy, don't I?" she responded,

"Is that the only reason?" Hermioine wondered,

"Na, like, 'cos also, the name is funny, 'cos it's, like, spew, yunno, like, vomit and wha' not."

"Yeah, hilarious, but, I don't think that this job is right for you." Hermione informed her,

"Wha', you don't fink vat I'm good enough for your vomit office, you wanna take vis outside?" She stood up and got her wand out and aimed it at Hermione, ready to fire a curse, but Hermione was faster with her own wand and managed to fire at her first,

"_Depulso!_" she yelled and Kelsey was pushed backwards and out of the door, the door slammed behind her and Hermione considered that a job well done.

The third time was definitely not the charm, Hermione thought, and whoever spoke those words was an idiot. Hermione had had three interview disasters and it didn't look like it was getting any better, and she still had quite a few people to get through.

The door knocked for the fourth time and a woman entered, she had hair that was so neat and sleek, literally not a hair out of place, and it all flicked up at the end where it met her shoulder, her outfit was smart, no creases at all and she walked with excellent posture, handbag hung around her shoulder. She sat down opposite Hermione, moving handbag from shoulder to lap and waited for Hermione to speak,

"So, your name is?" asked Hermione,

"Oh, um, oh, I'm Henrietta Myers." she seemed distracted by Hermione's desk, 'I'm sorry but would you mind if I just…?" she pulled a cloth out of her handbag and started wiping the table,

"No, of course you can." said Hermione a little confused, "So, why do you want this job?" asked Hermione,

"Oh, oh no, oh dear God." now she got up, pulled a feather duster from her handbag and started dusting around the door, "So dirty, got to be clean." she said moving the feather duster at rapid speed,

"Um, excuse me, the question, why do you want to work in the S.P.E.W office?" Hermione called over the room,

"Spew?" the woman asked,

"No, it's…" Hermione was cut off,

"That sounds tricky to clean up, I can't work hear, look, the cobwebs, the dust and…and, the _spew_, goodbye!" she stormed out, put on a rubber glove and closed the door behind her.

Hermione was angry that the only people who seemed interested in S.P.E.W were complete maniacs. Her office door was knocked upon yet again and a man entered, he sat down opposite Hermione,

"So, what's your name?" she asked,

"I am Carlton Clepton." he said, at that moment Hermione saw him take a trinket off of her desk in slip it into his pocket,

"Um, sir, I think that you should put that back on the desk." Hermione told him,

"Put what back on the desk?" he asked,

"The thing that you just stole." Hermione said,

"What are you accusing me of?" he asked enraged,

"Look, I saw you put it in your pocket." Hermione said, she put her arm on the desk and saw that her watch was missing,

"How did you…you stole my watch but how did…?" Hermione wondered,

"I did not steel anything!" he insisted,

"_Accio watch."_ said Hermione, wand in hand, and the watch flew out of his pocket and Hermione caught it, she did the same for the trinket, "Sir, I think that you had better leave."

"But what have I done?" he asked,

"Seriously, I just found my possessions in your pocket, you can't possibly be denying this!" she yelled,

"Denying what, are you saying that I'm a thief?" he asked,

"Yes I am, now please leave my office!" she commanded and this time he did so, he was about to walk out the door when Hermione stopped him, "Wait." she said, "_Accio badge._" the S.P.E.W badge flew out of his pocket and into Hermione's hand, "Now leave!" she commanded again, and he left.

Hermione had lost all hope, she was never going to find a good assistant, so far she had had a hippie, a man who wanted to punish house elves, a chav, a germaphobe and a kleptomaniac. Hermione's door knocked once more and a young woman entered.

She had long, black hair that was tied up in a ponytail and was dressed appropriately for an interview; she looked about Hermione's age,

"And your name is?" Hermione asked cynically as the girl sat down,

"My name is Rita Gupta." she said politely,

"And why do you want to work in the S.P.E.W office?" asked Hermione,

"Well, the way that people treat house elves now days makes me sick, I was so glad to have found a place that was as interested in saving house elves as I am, and it would be my greatest honour to have some part in making the world a house elf friendlier place." she said, that was the best answer Hermione had received all day,

"Really?" asked Hermione surprised at this girl,

"Yes, of course, house elf cruelty is one of the biggest issues in the world right now and we have to stop it, I heard how you abolished the wand law and ever since you have been my mentor, I couldn't wait to be the next member of S.P.E.W" said Rita,

"So, Rita, you seem young, how come I never saw you at Hogwarts?" Hermione wondered,

"Oh, I was home-schooled in magic by my parents." Rita told her,

"Okay, and your definitely qualified for the job?" Hermione asked,

"Yes, I've been an assistant before, so I can handle that side of things and I have held many fundraisers and charity events in support of elfish welfare." she said,

"Well, you seem perfect for the job Rita." said Hermione,

"Well, I'd better be on my way, I hope to hear back from you." she said as she stood up, she shook Hermione's hand from across the desk and turned around,

"Rita, wait.' Hermione said,

"Yes Miss Granger?" she asked, turning back around,

"You know what, you're hired!" Hermioine exclaimed happily,

"Really? Well, well, that's fantastic, I'm so happy, when do I begin?" she asked,

"Tomorrow morning, be here by nine o'clock." Hermione informed her,

"Yes, boss.' she said and then walked out of the door, Hermione had finally found a person who was as passionate about S.P.E.W as she was.


	5. Chapter 5

**St. Mungo's College**

October came into way and Hermione had found work a lot easier with Rita around the office; she took care of the paperwork and organizing Hermione's schedule. Hermione had another place to go after work; Ginny's second Quidditch match was that day and Hermione was going to be there.

After work she apparated home and met Ron there, Hermione rarely saw him around the Ministry but he had been around more lately and spending slightly less time at Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes.

"Shall we go then?" he asked,

"Yeah, are we going to the Burrow first?" Hermione asked,

"No, we're just going straight there, come on." Ron stuck out his arm Hermione grabbed it and hey dissapparated.

They appeared at the exterior of the Quidditch pitch and could already hear the crowd roaring. They walked in and handed in their free tickets to allow them access to the game and found a place in the stands.

"Who's she playing today?" Hermione asked Ron.

"The Chudley Cannons!" exclaimed Ron happily before putting on his large orange and black hat with the double _C_ logo of the Chudley Cannons,

"Ron, you're supporting against your own sister." said Hermione, slightly shocked,

"Yeah.' said Ron, they then met Harry in the stands and they stood together cheering as the teams were introduced.

Ron cheered as the Chudley Cannons zoomed onto the pitch in robes of orange as cannon balls ignited in the crowd to mark there presence, it was a smaller cheer than the one received by the Holyhead Harpies when they zoomed onto the pitch, leprechauns danced in the crowd.

The announcer began to speak "AND THE GAME STARTS OF QUICKLY AS BOTH TEAMS SWOOM IN COLLISION AND JAMIE THATCHER HAS THE QUAFFLE, HE'S FLOATING THERE ON HIS BROOM AND DOESN'T SEEM TO BE DOING ANYTHING, HE'D BETTER GET A MOVE ON IF HE DOESN'T WANT TO GET-OUCH, I FELT THAT, GOOD SWING BY GWENOG JONES A,D ANGELINA JOHNSON HAS THE QUAFFLE AND SHE'S GOING FOR THE HOOP, SHE PASSES IT TO GINNY WEASLEY WHO SCORES, THAT'S TEN POINTS TO THE HOLYHEAD HARPIES!"

The Chudley Cannons continued to play terribly and the Holyhead Harpies kept on prevailing, Hermione had yet to see them score but Ron kept cheering for them anyway. They all seemed very clumsy and dimwitted, but Hermione expected this from a team who's motto was: _"Let's all just keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best."_

"AND THE HOLYHEAD HARPIES HAVE CAUGHT THE SNITCH GIVING THEM FOUR-HUNDRED AND NINEY TO…UM…TEN, I THINK THAT IT'S SAFE TO SAY THAT THE HOLYHEAD HARPIES WIN PUTTING THEM AT NINTH IN THE LEAGUE SO FAR, KNOCK ON WOOD LADIES, YOU COULD BE ON A WINNING STREAK." the crowd cheered loudly and the girls took a victory lap.

Over a week later Hermione pack some of her things in her beaded bag and gave Ron a kiss goodbye,

"See you soon." she said,

"Have fun.' he replied. She apparated to the Burrow and met up with Ginny,

"Shall we go then?" she asked, Hermione nodded, "Where is St. Mungo's College anyway?"

"Oh, it's in an old abandoned muggle med-school in the middle of nowhere." Hermione replied,

"Hmm," said Ginny, "Sounds nice." Ginny waved goodbye to Harry and the two of them dissapparated.

They were standing at the gates of the college, on the outside this place look awful, dark and dank and filthy. Hermione and Ginny stepped through the gates and into the grounds; all of a sudden they saw clean, shining, appealing buildings with students all around the grounds,

"Oh," said Hermione, "there must be some sort of charm around the outside."

"Where's Demelza's dorm then?" asked Ginny,

"Room twenty three, floor five in the building on the far left." Hermione said, remembering it from one of Demelza's letters.

They went to the building on the far left, walked up the stairs to the fifth floor and knocked on the dorm door that said: _23._ Hermione knocked on the door and waited for an answer, when none came Ginny opened the door and barged in anyway,

"You can't do that." said Hermione,

"Why not?" asked Ginny,

"Because, it's breaking and entering." said Hermione, "It's illegal"

"Did you see any breaking, it's just entering, it's completely different." Ginny said. The room was decorated with posters of Quidditch teams and banners; it had a wardrobe, a dressing table, some bean-bags and a bed.

"Well you could have waited for me." Hermione turned around and saw Demelza standing at the open door, she came in and closed it behind her, "So glad you could make it," she said, "Sorry I was late, I was at a lecture that took longer than I thought it would."

"No need to apologise.' said Hermione, "It's alright."

"Where will we be sleeping tonight?" asked Ginny,

"On the floor." said Demelza.

"The floor?" Ginny whined,

"Well, I have comfy bean-bags and you brought sleeping bags, didn't you?" asked Demelza,

"No." said Ginny,

"I did." said Hermione, "So, what's it like here?"

"It's good, I've learnt a lot that I didn't know and there's quite a few parties so I'm well occupied, good job in the game by the way." she now spoke to Ginny,

"You were at my game?" asked Ginny,

"Games, plural, and of course I was." said Demelza,

"If I'd known that you were in the stands then I would have met up with you.' said Hermione, Ginny and Demelza started to talk Quidditch talk whilst Hermione got acquainted with the room.

The three of them had pulled the bean-bags into the middle of the dorm in the evening, they were all in their pyjamas and just talking about random subjects and catching up,

"I can't wait to go dress shopping tomorrow." said Demelza,

"Me neither." replied Hermione, "I finally get to buy my dream wedding dress." Hermione had thought about her wedding dress when she was a little girl but as she grew up, the idea that she would even have a wedding started to slip away.

"I'm hungry." said Ginny,

"Oh, I have something here…"| said Hermione, she put her entire arm into her beaded bag, ruffled around a little bit and stared to pull out a lot of sweets,

'Wow," said Ginny,

"It's like your bag is a Hogwarts Express trolley." said Demelza, they began to eat the Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans, the chocolate frogs and more,

"How much can you fit inside that anyway?" asked Ginny,

"What, my bag?" asked Hermione, Ginny nodded, "Well, I've never tested it's full capacity, but, well, a lot, obviously."

"Do you think we could test it?" asked Demelza,

"No." Hermione answered bluntly.

"So, you guys a bit bored?" asked Ginny, Demelza nodded and Hermione agreed,

"I know, well, this is a sleepover, so…let's play truth or dare?" suggested Demelza,

"Yeah." said Ginny,

"Um, you do realise that we're three adults, don't you?" asked Hermione,

"Yes," said Demelza, "but living at Hogwarts, I've never really had a sleepover."

"Me neither." said Ginny,

"You slept in a room with four other girls every night, it was always a sleepover." Hermione pointed out,

"Yeah, but now I get to chose my guests." argued Demelza,

"You slept in a dorm with Ginny for seven years and me _and_ Ginny for one of those years." Hermione said,

"Stop ruining it Hermione, we're playing truth or dare? and that's that." said Ginny,

"Fine." Hermione reluctantly accepted.

"Okay, Ginny, truth or dare?" asked Demelza,

"Dare." said Ginny,

"Okay, I dare you to…climb all the way inside Hermione's beaded bag." Demelza said,

"I don't know about that." said Hermione,

"Come on, it'll help you test it's capacity." said Ginny,

"Fine." said Hermione, she was secretly curious about the outcome of this dare.

Ginny grabbed the bag, opened it as far as it would go and put one foot in, soon she put another foot in and started pulling it up her legs without struggle. She pulled it up her waist, struggled to pull it over her shoulders but managed it, and pulled it all the way over her head, and the bag looked no bigger,

"Wow, Hermione, you have a lot of stuff in here." said Ginny's voice from the bag,

"That would be great for kidnapping people." said Demelza, Hermione shot her a look, "Well it would"

"Okay, can you get me out of here now?" asked Ginny,

"Okay," Hermione replied, Ginny stuck both hands out of the top of the beaded bag, Hermione and Demelza grabbed a wrist each and heaved her all the way out,

"Wow," said Ginny, "That was cool." she said, Demelza laughed.

"Hermione," began Ginny, "Truth or dare?" she asked,

"Truth." Hermioine politely replied,

"Hmmm…" Ginny wondered and thought of a question, "Okay, yes, I have it, have you ever done anything illegal, and, if so, what was it?"

"You know that I've done illegal things, you were with me for some of them, for one, we broke into the Ministry and into the Department of Mysteries, I let house elves use wands last year which was illegal at the time and right now, Leontes is illegally kept." said Hermione,

"What do you mean?" asked Demelza,

"Well, law requires that we remove the forked tail with a painless severing charm whilst he is young so that muggles don't get suspicious, but I never did, even though it was painless it still seemed cruel to him, besides, we keep him away from muggles anyway because of how ferocious Crups are towards them and we don't live around muggles so we're perfectly all right." Hermione explained,

"Oh, I see,' said Demelza, "Okay, my turn!" she exclaimed.


	6. Chapter 6

**Dress Shopping**

Hermione woke up the next morning, laying on a bean-bag, Ginny and Demelza were still out cold, and Hermione got dressed quietly, brushed her teeth in Demelza's small ensuite, and walked out of the dormitory. She saw some trainee-healers rush to a room down the hall and Hermione felt drawn to it. She walked down the hall and looked into the open door and saw that it was a lecture hall. The professor was talking down at the front as all of the trainee-healers were scribbling down notes with their quills faster than there hands would write.

The teacher suddenly stopped talking and stared at Hermione,

"You there, at the back, you in or out?" he asked, the whole room stared at Hermione, she looked behind her, hoping that someone was there, but there wasn't, she pointed at herself and mouthed the word _'me?'_ to the professor, he nodded and she spontaneously decided to say,-

"I'm in."

"Okay, then take a seat," Hermione sat down in the empty seat next to her, right up at the back of the hall, "As I was saying…" the professor continued.

Falsely attending a healer lecture was great, Hermione learned a lot about wizarding medicine that she had never leaned at Hogwarts or even from any book, and if you knew Hermione, you'd know that she has read _loads_ of books.

She sat there for about half an hour and enjoying all of it, she even answered a few questions that the professor asked until Ginny and Demelza burst into the lecture hall,

"There you are." Ginny whispered,

"You're not supposed to be here, they're very strict about that." whispered Demelza,

"I've learned some really fascinating stuff." whispered Hermione,

"Well, come on, it's time to go." said Ginny,

"After the lecture." stated Hermione

"No, now, come on." argued Demelza, Hermione ignored them, Ginny and Demelza exchanged a look,

"You forced us to do this." Ginny whispered, each one of them grabbed one of Hermione's arms and tried to heave her off of her seat, she came plummeting to the ground in the isle, the professor down at the front cleared his throat,

"Excuse me ladies, can I help you with anything?" he asked, it didn't take long for Hermione, Ginny and Demelza to realise that he was addressing the three of them,

"No, um, sir, she's just, not meant to be here." said Ginny,

"You mean she's in the wrong hall?" he asked,

"No," said Demelza, "She doesn't attend this college." said Demelza,

"Nor do I," said Ginny, "We were just leaving."

"So you're unauthorized students attending lectures under false pretenses?" he asked,

"Well, yes," tried Hermione, getting up off of the floor, the professor pulled out a primitive microphone and said into it,

"I need security to the lecture hall in block seven, floor five, I have three unauthorized girls here, be here fast." he said, everyone was staring at them,

"Oh no, I'm an actual student here and I have permission for these two and…" Demelza tried,

"Save it Dem, at this point, it's just easier to run away." said Hermione, they saw the security guards enter the door at the end of the hall, Hermione, Demelza and Ginny ran through the door on the other end of the hall, the three of tem ran down five flights of stairs and out of the building, the guards weren't far behind them and they ran for the gate.

The guards fired spells,

"_Stupefy, Impedimenta, Expelliarmus!_" and the three dodged every one of them or deflected them with,

"_Protego!_" which emitted an invisible shield out of the end of their wand, a guard yelled,

"_Stupefy"_ at them, Hermione created her invisible shield and the curse hit the guard who emitted it, he went over and caused the domino effect and all of the guards collapsed in a heap, the three of them got out of the gates and the building turned disgusting behind them as it had been when Ginny and Hermione first laid eyes upon it,

"So," Demelza said, "Dress shopping."

First stop for the three of them was the bank, not Gringotts, but a muggle bank; after all, they were shopping in a muggle town. With the clothes that they wore, they fit in all right with the background. Hermione was there so that she could cash some of the cheque that her parents had sent her for her birthday, the one that she was to use to pay for the wedding; today she was to spend it on a wedding dress and three bridesmaids' dresses.

"Wizard banks are a lot more exciting." said Ginny as they were lining up in the queue, as much as Hermione wanted to agree, she had to say,

"Well we can't go there, my parents gave me _muggle_ money, and besides, after all of that business with me, Ron, Harry and the dragon, I don't think that I should show my face to the goblins for a little, or large, while longer." Hermione explained,

"Ah, the dragon," Demelza smiled, "I remember reading about that in the _Daily Prophet_."

"Yes," said Hermione, "So does everybody." she grunted.

After Hermione had received a fraction of her parents' money the three of them made there way to a small, well kept café, they sat down, ordered and talked,

"Demelza, who will you be bringing to the wedding?" Hermione asked,

"Mitchell," Demelza replied,

"Oh, you two are still together, I just assumed because of college and stuff." Hermione said,

"He goes to the same college, that's how we got together, our wants to be healers." Demelza explained,

"Oh, makes sense." said Hermione.

"So, do you know any dress shops around this place?" asked Ginny,

"I know all of them, this is where I grew up." said Hermione, "And there is a little wedding dress shop that caught my eye as a little girl, I think that I know where it is."

"What sort of look are you going for?" asked Demelza,

"What do you mean?" asked Hermione,

"Well, what kind of dress to you want, straps, long sleeves, no sleeves, splits, ribbons, bows, ruffles, petticoats, what?" asked Demelza,

"Oh, I don't know." said Hermione, who was just realising this herself,

"Well, what sort of thing looks best on you?" asked Ginny,

"Well, I never kept up with the latest fashion or anything like that; I always just wore something, smart, not completely hideous but nothing you could put on a magazine cover." Hermione admitted.

"Well, maybe you'll find out today." said Demelza,

"Yeah, maybe I will." said Hermione.

After some coffee and cake, Hermione, Ginny and Demelza went to the dress shop that Hermione had her eye on as a little girl, it was exactly where Hermione remembered it being, It wasn't extravagant, is was fairly small with a little white door on one side while a window lay across the rest of the front of the building with some of the most beautiful gowns that Hermione had ever seen behind them.

"Well, lets go in." said Hermione, the three of them entered and found themselves looking at a haven of wedding gowns and other dresses that all looked stunning.

They sat on a white leather sofa that was in there and were served champagne by someone. The woman who worked there soon came up to them,

"So, who's the bride in this party?" she asked, Hermione raised her hand and the lady asked again,

"What kind of dress are you looking for?" she asked,

"Um, I don't know, a white one." said Hermione feeling a bit stupid afterwards,

"Yes, we get that a lot, well, not to worry, can I just ask your dress size and I'll come back with some gowns for you to try on." she said,

"That'd be great, thanks." said Hermione who then told the woman her dress size and the woman went into the racks of dresses in search of gowns.

"Well," said Demelza, "this place seems nice, I'll go find a bridesmaid dress."

"Me too." said Ginny,

"Wait," Hermione said,

"What?" the two of them asked in unison,

"Do any of you know Luna's dress size?" she asked,

"I do." said Ginny,

"Good, can you pick out a dress for her as well then, and ,you know, don't get anything that she, herself, would ever pick out." Hermione instructed,

"Of course.' said Ginny and the two of them disappeared into the labyrinth of dresses.

The lady from before returned with some gowns for Hermione to try on, Hermione grabbed the first on the pile and made her way to the changing rooms, she took out a booth and changed inside it, she took of her clothes and casually slipped into the first dress, she herd Ginny and Demelza enter the booths beside her and time cam for the three of them to come out,

"You ready?" Hermione asked,

"Yes." said Demelza,

"Me too." said Ginny,

"Okay, let's reveal then." said Hermione and the three of them simultaneously left the dressing room, Ginny was wearing an awful, lime green dress that was too much material for her with a neck line that made her look like she was being strangled, Demelza was wearing an orange thing with huge, stuffed sleeves and a large, clashing bow on the chest, Hermione had a white dress with long sleeves, the front part was knee high whereas the back part dragged along the floor,

"That is the mullet of wedding dresses." said Demelza,

"Yeah, hideous.' agreed Ginny,

"Yeah, well, you Demelza, look like Snow White slipped and fell in a paint factory and you, Ginny, look like your being choked to death by blob of snot." retorted Hermione,

"Yeah, these were all mistakes." admitted Ginny,

"Who's Snow White?" asked Demelza,

"Never mind, let's try on some more." ordered Hermione.

After those disasters, they didn't get much better. They had a wedding gown that made Hermione look like Little Bow peep (Hermione was sure that it was meant to come with a rook and an inflatable sheep), Ginny had tried on a dress that looked like a fat-suit being attacked by a bluebell, and Demelza tried on a silver dress that was so shiny that when light hit it, Hermione could have sworn it could have blinded people.

After the terrors of the dresses had been exposed, they finally got down to the good ones. Ginny and Demelza stepped out of the dressing rooms wearing matching dresses, Demelza's was blood red and Ginny's was pitch black, simple, flowy, halter necked, they looked beautiful, but not so beautiful that Hermione would be out-shone,

"Wow, they're great." Hermione said,

"We know," said Ginny, "and they had one in Luna's size." Demelza pulled a slightly smaller dress that was identical to her own, out from behind her,

"How come you get a different one?" Hermione asked Ginny,

"Because I'm the Maid of Honour, I'm special." Ginny said,

"And because red clashes badly with her hair." added Demelza,

"Yeah." Ginny admitted as Hermione changed into the last gown in her size. She stepped out and Ginny and Demelza's mouths dropped. It fit to Hermione's body perfectly, it was the purest of whites, it had straps that hung over the shoulders and went along the chest and back with a simple but effective twist, the bodice was plain and the skirt was long, floor length with the material stitched into diamond shapes in various spots that created the illusion of layers, it had a trail that wasn't too long but not too short that was made of very soft silk and it came with a veil that was the perfect length, it fitted Hermione's head amazingly and framed her face in the same way, it was Hermione's perfect dress,

"Okay, you two can close your mouths now." she said,

"Hermione, you look, you look…just wow." said Demelza

"I know, I feel so beautiful." Hermione said honestly,

"You look it too." said Ginny, Demelza nodded in agreement.

They purchased the four dresses and asked that they be delivered to Hermione's address, to add to the perfect-ness of there purchase, the dresses were on sale. Hermione felt like a dream, she had one plan down, now she had to set the date,

"So, where are you having the wedding?" asked Ginny,

"In a local hotel, it's four star." Hermione said,

"Ooh shmancy." said Demelza, mockingly,

"Well, we're here." Hermione told them as they stood outside the hotel, this building _was_ extravagant, it was tall and wide with luxurious windows and doors all in a colour that tied the look together, at the top, there was a sign: _Le Grand Hôtel_

"Why is it in French?" asked Ginny,

"I don't know, I guess it adds a certain elegance." said Hermione,

"Just to be clear, it is called the grand hotel?" asked Demelza,

"Actually, grand, translates to big." said Hermione,

"Oh, so it's the big hotel." said Ginny,

"Yes." Hermione replied.

The interior was even more luxurious than the exterior with elegant wallpaper, everything clean, fountains and stair cases that looked like they were made for Cinderella herself. Hermione went to the front desk and asked to rent out a wedding hall and a reception hall and some rooms for the guests to stay in that she would pay for with her parents' money, she was read the available dates and that's when she chose it: June sixth.


	7. Chapter 7

**Back to Number Twelve**

A few days later Hermione sat on her patio furniture on her back-garden porch with Ginny, they were having drinks,

"You're so lucky to have a place of your own." Ginny was saying,

"Thanks, it's pretty great." Hermione said,

"I wish I could move out and live somewhere with Harry, but I'm not sure about finding a place." said Ginny,

"Well, Harry makes good money as an auror and I'm guessing that you make quite a lot per Quidditch match." Hermione told her,

"Yeah, I do." said Ginny,

"Great, then you can probably afford a place of your own, besides, it's not as though that many bills have to be paid, you need light, use Lumos, you need some water, use Aguamenti, you need some heat, use Incendio, and so on and so on." Hermione explained,

"Yeah, I guess it won't be that hard." said Ginny who through a stick for Leontes to go and fetch, "You have quite a lot of pets."

"Yeah, I suppose I do, but not as big animals as Harry has." Hermione said,

"What do you mean, between us we have Snuffles and Arnold?" asked Ginny,

"Yeah, but Harry is the legal owner of Buckbeak and, by extension, Clarabelle and Rusty." Hermione explained,

"Yes, I suppose." Ginny thought,

"Anyway, you should go and ask Harry about the whole moving situation, he'll probably be on board." said Hermione,

"Okay, I will" said Ginny, taking a sip from her butterbeer.

"I talked to Harry." Ginny was once again saying the next day.

"And…?" Hermione wondered, "What did he say?"

"He said that he'd be happy to move as long as I was sure and he said that looking for a place would be no problem." Ginny recalled,

"Why not?" asked Hermione,

"Because, he owns number twelve Grimmauld Place, doesn't he, Sirius left it to him in the will along with Buckbeak." said Ginny,

"Yeah, but, I would have thought that that would bring back too many bad memories." Hermione pointed out,

"That's what I thought too, but he said that he wanted to remember Sirius as he was in life, not after death, and where better to do that than in his house, mind you, it will have to be thoroughly cleaned and dusted and we will have to get rid of all of those animals and creatures living in it, but once that's all sorted we should move straight in." Ginny exclaimed happily, "though speaking of all of those creatures and cleaning, Mum's coming down with us on the weekend to do an inspection for us and we could use some help, wink, wink, nudge, nudge." urged Ginny,

"Yes, me and Ron will be there." Hermione conceded,

"Yes, thank you, thank you, thank you." Ginny squealed before giving Hermione a hug.

That weekend, Hermione, Ginny, Harry, Mrs. Weasley and a reluctant Ron went down to Grimmauld Place. They saw number twelve and knew that none of the muggles walking by could, it had once been the headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix, it wasn't now that Voldemort had been defeated, Hermione knew that there would probably be less items in there than the last time she went because Mundungus Fletcher had the annoying habit of stealing things and selling them.

The five of them walked in,

"Oh, this place is filthy, we'll have to give it a good scrub." said Mrs. Weasley upon entering. They walked down the narrow corridor until they came to a place with a door in front of them and a staircase beside them, Hermione was slightly disgusted by all of the house elf heads that were on the walls but she didn't say anything. They entered the dining room and sat down around the table, "Okay, you four stay hear, I'll go and have a look round." said Mrs. Weasley who left the room and closed the door behind her.

"So, this place seems nice, you two sure about living here?" Ron asked, Harry and Ginny both nodded,

"The main problem is that portrait of Walburga." said Harry, Walburga Black was Sirius's prejudice mother whose portrait they could not take down,

"Is there not a way to undo tat charm she put on it?" asked Ginny,

"No," said Hermione, "That's why they call it a _permanent_ sticking charm"

"Well, you know, we don't have Tonks to trip up on the troll foot umbrella stand anymore, maybe, if you be quiet around her, she'll shut up." said Ron,

"Yeah, maybe." said Harry,

"Maybe we can deafen her." suggested Ginny,

"What?" asked Hermione,

"Well, there must be a spell that makes you deaf or maybe we could sound proof her or something." Ginny though.

"We'll come back to it." said Hermioine,

"Do you think mum'll find anything _too_ bad?" asked Ron; they heard a scream from upstairs and a distant cry of,

"That is disgusting." from Mrs. Weasley,

"I think that maybe she might." said Hermione.

The four of them kept on chatting until Mrs. Weasley returned looking a bit roughed up,

"Okay," she said, "I found: doxies, pixies, fairies, puffskeins, nifflers, mokes, knarls, imps, and a flobberworm, and that's just so far." said Mrs. Weasley,

"Right then," said Ginny, "Let's get to work."

They started with the pixies, they were bright blue and flew around the room, they pulled there hair and one stole Harry's glasses, Hermione pulled out her wand and said,

"_Immobulus."_ and the pixies around her froze where they were; the rest of them did the same which meant that they could easily pluck the pixies from the air and shove them in a sack, Harry retrieved his glasses and put them back on. Molly tied up the sack and started a pile in the kitchen.

They then moved on to the room with the puffskeins, they weren't running around the room like Hermione expected them to be, they were under the sofa, and dead.

"Oh, that stinks!" exclaimed Ron,

"Okay," said Molly, she pulled out a sheet and asked Harry and Ron to move the sofa off of the puffskeins' bodies. Hermione got her wand and said,

"_Depulso._" and all of the custard coloured fur balls rolled onto the sheet, Mrs. Weasley took each corner and tied them up,

"_Wingardium Leviosa._" said Harry and the sheet-made sack of puffskeins hovered in the air and Ginny got her wand and said,

"_Incendio._" the sack set on fire and the bodies burned. Everyone in the room went quiet until the sack was all burned up and the fire disappeared.

"What do we do about that smell though?" asked Ron,

"_Orchideous._" said Mrs. Weasley, and flowers appeared all over the room making it smell of roses.

Next they went for the nifflers, there were three of them in the room, they were climbing on mantels trying to get to candle sticks or trying to get to the goblets on the table, they were fluffy, black and long snouted.

"How do we get rid of them?" asked Ginny,

"I have an idea." said Harry, he grabbed a candle stick, wiped off the dust to make it shiny (which made all of the nifflers turn their heads to look at it; they were attracted to shiny things) and shoved it in a large sack, all of the nifflers walked into the sack.

"How do we stop them from moving?" asked Ron,

"_Petrificus Totalus_." said Hermione and the nifflers went rigid in the sack,

"Shall we move on then?" asked Ginny,

"No," said Mrs. Weasley, "They'll probably have a burrow somewhere with litter, ah ha, there." Mrs. Weasley pointed at a hole in the floor in the far corner of the room. Ginny went over to it,

"Looks like they've been living between the floor and the ceiling underneath the floorboards, I'll try this," she got her wand, "_Accio niffler babies._" and six baby nifflers came zooming out of the hole, Ron through another candle stick into the sack and they all walked into it,

"_Petrificus Totalus._" said Harry and the baby nifflers went rigid and Mrs. Weasley tied up the sack, she added it to the pixies in the kitchen.

They then decided to tackle the mokes. They walked in to find some long silver-green lizards crawling around, as soon as the five of them entered the room, the mokes all shrank to the size of the pixies,

"How do we get them if they can just shrink?" asked Ron,

"They're tricky." said Mrs. Weasley,

"Well, we could just grow them again.' said Ginny,

"What?" asked Harry, Ginny pointed at a tiny moke with her wand and said,

"_Engorgio._" the moke grew larger than it was when they entered the room, it was shocked and Ginny used this to rush the sack over it. They did this to all of the mokes and used the full-body-bind curse to make them stop moving or shrinking and Mrs. Weasley tied up the sack, tight; she added it to the pile in the kitchen and soon returned.

They next found the imps, these were not hard, Mrs. Weasley simply did what was to be done with the pixies, pulled out her wand and said,

"_Immobulus._" and the little brown bodies stopped nibbling at ankles and knocking items over (one of them had pushed Ron over) and they were easily picked up and stuffed into the sack. They too were put in the kitchen by Mrs. Weasley.

They next found knarls running around a room. They looked a lot like hedgehogs, some of them weren't running around and were dead on the floor. They started by sweeping all of the dead ones into the sack. Some of them rolled into balls and rolled around the room madly, Mrs. Weasley temporarily vacated the room and returned with some owl treats,

"What are you going to do with those?" asked Ron,

"You'll see." she said, she then pointed her wand in the sack and created flowers inside it like she had in the room with the puffskeins. She then laid down the owl treats and all of the knarls scurried to it, they stared, confused and then looked angry, they all went to the flowers and started to attack them, Mrs. Weasley then tied up the sack.

"What did you do?" asked Harry,

"Simple, when you leave some food out for a knarl, they get suspicious because they think that you're trying to lure them into a trap, they then pull up that persons flower beds, hence, flowers in the sack." Mrs. Weasley explained,

"Impressive." said Hermione truthfully.

They next found a room with greenery in it,

"The fairies are in the bushes." said Mrs. Weasley,

"Okay, I know what to do." said Hermione, "I just need someone to set the bushes on fire and I'll take it from there." Hermione instructed,

"Okay.' they said, Harry, Ron and Ginny all emitted fire from there wands and ignited the bushes, they contained the fire away from anything structural. All of the fairies flew out of the bushes; they fluttered their insect-like wings and started to emit multi-coloured puffs of smoke. Hermione, wand at the ready, said,

"_Glacius._" an ice cold wind flew out of Hermione's wand along with snow flakes and ice, the fairies went blue and soon were frozen inside a large sheet of ice, "_Reducto._" the ice shattered and the fairies were now shards of ice on the floor, the others fire jets of water out of their wands and put out the bush fires.

"What do we do about those shards of ice?" asked Ginny,

"_Wingardium Leviosa_." said Mrs. Weasley and the shards of ice rose and Mrs. Weasley forced them to fly out of the window.

They then took care of the flobberworm which was very disgusting; it was squirting mucus from one end,

"_Diffindo._" said Ron, and the worm was severed in two, Mrs. Weasley then waved her wand and, without speaking, caused the flobberworm to disintegrate. She then magicked the broom tom sweep up the mucus and used,

"_Aguamenti"_ to wash it off.

"Okay, good work everyone, just the doxies to go now." Mrs. Weasley told them, "I saved them for last because of how tricky they are." She then went downstairs and returned with five spray bottles and five vials of liquid, "Okay, I found Doxy poison and some antidote in the kitchen cupboards." she handed them a spray bottle each and a vial each. They entered the room cautiously; Mrs. Weasley moved the wardrobe and doxies flew out. They were fairy-like in appearance apart from the thick black hairs and the eight limbs, when one came near to Hermione she sprayed some poison in its face, a few good sprays and it was dead, she saw that everybody else was doing the same. Ron got bitten on the arm, Hermione sprayed the doxy that did it, it died, and Hermione fed Ron some antidote, finally all of them were dead, Mrs. Weasley swept them into a sack and they all started to walk down the stairs.

They all walked past a set of closed curtains that suddenly flew open and Walburga screamed,

"MUDBLOODS, BLOOD TRAITORS, FILTH, I MY HOUSE, AHHHHHH!" she screamed,

"Shut up you old trout!" yelled Ron,

"_Silencio_!" tried Ginny, but the spell failed, Hermione had always been good with charms and yelled,

"_Silencio Maxima!"_ light gushed from Hermione's wand, Walburga continued to scream, but no sound came out,

"Just what you deserve you old bi-" started Ginny,

"Okay, said Hermione, maybe this will work now, _Muffliato!_" Hermione yelled, now Walburga couldn't speak _or_ hear.

"Well, that takes care of that." said Mrs. Weasley, they went into the kitchen and Mrs. Weasley dumped the sack with the others,

"What will you do with them?" asked Hermione,

"Probably release them into the wild." Mrs. Weasley told her, "I'll probably come into the house for the next few days to make sure we don't get anything else, anyway, all of you, grab a feather duster, we still have the cleaning to get through."


	8. Chapter 8

**The Holding Cells**

Hermione sat in her office with Rita; both of them had their quills in their hands and were writing down paperwork, they were working late and most of the Ministry had gone home.

"So, Rita, are you doing anything for Halloween tonight?" Hermione asked,

"No, it's just any other night to me." said Rita,

"Well, I'm having a small gathering, you can find a costume and come along if you'd like." Hermione said.

"No, I think that that'd be-" she tried,

"No, I insist." said Hermione,

"Well, okay Miss Granger." said Rita,

"Please, call me Hermione." Hermione asked of her,

"Okay Miss Granger." she said,

"Never mind." said Hermione.

"What are you going as tonight anyway, Miss?" asked Rita,

"Me? I'm going as a pirate." said Hermione, "Ron should be setting things up now." she said.

"That's very nice Miss." said Rita, whenever she spoke, Hermione always thought that she had such an air of innocence about her.

"I'll be right back." said Hermione, "I just have to put these papers onto Kingsley's desk."

"Oh, you can add these." said Rita who added another set of papers to the pile. Hermione left the office and went down the hall to the lift. She went in it and up to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement with her papers. It was at that moment that Hermione realised that she had not a clue where Kingsley's office was, she looked around for a while and intruded on a few peoples' offices and saw private things.

She soon found herself standing in a hallway with a door at the end, she felt drawn to it, it seemed hidden, it was metal and had a large wheel on the front of it that needed to be turned so that the door could open. Hermione pulled out her wand and tied to turn the wheel with magic, it didn't work, she would have to use her physical strength. She went forward and grabbed hold of the wheel with her hands, she tried to turn it, it took all of her strength but eventually it started to budge, soon she had spun it all the way around and she heard a _click_ in the mechanism. She then used the handle and opened the door; she entered the room and saw that it was filled with prison cells. The room stank quite a bit; there were about ten cells in the room, five on each side of the wall, all of them were full.

Men and women stood behind the bars, all of them were now staring at Hermione, snarling and growling, she saw a wardrobe at the back of the room rattle about a bit, a tear came to Hermione's eye, she wiped it and then found her self backing out of the room. She slammed the door behind her and the wheel on the door spun by it self until the door _clicked_ shut again. Hermione continued to walk backwards; she walked into someone, screamed out of shock and turned around,

"Miss, are you alright, sorry to startle you." said Rita,

"Its alright." said Hermione, "Why are you here?"

"I was looking for you because you were taking so long, I got worried and I found you here." she said,

"Oh, okay," said Hermioine, "What is that room?" asked Hermione angrily pointing at the metal door.

"Well Miss, they're the holding cells." said Rita,

"What are they and why?" asked Hermione, she wiped another tear from her eye,

"Well, sometimes, when an auror catches a dark wizard, they'll put them in there for a week or so until they can ship them off to Azkaban." Rita explained, Hermione drifted off into her mind,

"Miss? Miss?" called Rita, Hermione snapped out of it,

"Yes, what is it Rita?" asked Hermione,

"Do you want _me _to put those on Mr. Shacklebolt's desk?" she asked,

"Um, yes, if you would." said Hermione, handing Rita the papers,

"You can go home if you want, Miss, I can finish what we have left." said Rita,

"Yes, thank you." said Hermione, Rita walked away and Hermione just stood there, dazed.

Hermione, later that night, stood in her house dressed in a pirate coat, a plastic cutlass in a holster, a pirate hat that contained the bushiness of her hair, hoop earrings, leather boots, a shirt under a corset and striped trousers.

"How do I look?" she asked Ron who was dressed as one of the Chudley Cannons,

"Great," he said, "Very pirate-y."

"Thanks." she said, she gave him a quick kiss. The doorbell rang,

"Oh," said Ron, our first trick or treaters." he answered the door to a little girl dressed as a witch,

"Trick or treat?" she said, holding a bag open,

"Where's your costume?" Ron asked, "Kids today, no effort." he said, and at that point Hermione grabbed the bowl of sweets and gave some to the little girl,

"Thank you." she said,

"Your welcome.' Hermione replied, the little girl walked away and Hermione shut the door, "Ron, muggle children don't where robes." she said,

"Oh, ah well, we shouldn't be getting many of those, we live away from other homes." he said, which was true.

Later on, people had arrived, Harry, Ginny, Neville, George, Angelina, Lee Jordan, and a few others. Hermione had put some music on, put out some food and some drinks. They started to have more fun once Hermione got out the firewhiskey. They played some party games. The first one was where they had to rap each other up like mummies with toilet roll, Ron wrapped up Hermione and it kept tearing around her and getting screwed up, he nearly, accidentally, suffocated her. Harry was wrapping up Ginny, he did all right but it kept falling off and sliding down. George wrapped up Angelina quite well and Lee covered every inch of Neville including binding his legs together so that he had to hop around. When it came to swap places, Neville couldn't break free of his toilet paper-bandages so he couldn't wrap up Lee, who was just laughing at him anyway. Angelina did a thorough job on George but this forced him to trip over, fall on her, and become unwrapped. Ginny nearly broke Harry's glasses when she tried to wrap his eyes and wrapped his neck so tight that she had to tear it off so that he wouldn't get strangled. Hermione wrapped Ron thoroughly, but not too much so, and did it neatly and effectively. Neville had so many layers on him that they had to resort to magic to get it off of him.

During the night they got more trick or treaters and Rita arrived later on dressed in a bat costume,

"Hello Miss Granger." she said,

"Welcome, come in, have some firewhiskey." said Hermione,

"Don't mind if I do." said Rita who sat down and had more than a few glasses. there was a lot of dancing going on, and drinking. Hermione went up to the radio,

"Oh, I love this song." she said before singing the whole thing, badly out of tune.

She found out that Rita could be a lot of fun as the night went on. They all took turns sliding down the banister to see who could do it faster, so far, Ginny was winning with just under three seconds. Later they found themselves fencing with fire pokers which Harry ended up winning, but Ron won when they jousted on backward office chairs and mops.

They then spilt into teams and had a round of hockey; they tied pillows to their legs, used mops and brooms as sticks, used Leontes's tennis ball as the ball and tipped over bins as goals. That, however, turned into an indoor Quidditch match when they found they brooms and put enchantments on the mops, Hermione's team won that one, probably because her team had two professional Quidditch players. After more firewhiskey, they just rammed each other with the brooms, making each other fall off, and the last one standing would be the winner, that was George.

By morning, the people that hadn't gone home found themselves asleep in various places in the living room, Hermione was on the sofa, Ginny was in an armchair, as was Neville, George was across the fireplace, Ron was _in_ the fire place and was woken up by Harry falling out of the chimney. Rita was along the mantel, Angelina was on the book shelves and Lee was on the windowsill. They all woke up with headaches and made there way off, or out of the places that they found themselves. Hermione looked at the six empty bottles of firewhiskey on the coffee table and went to the kitchen to put food out for Leontes and Crookshanks, she then wondered where they were, she heard whining in the kitchen cupboard, opened it, and saw the two of them cowering in there,

"Come on, get out." they both did and Hermione slammed the cupboard door shut which was a mistake because the noise sounded like a rocket taking off in her ears.

After cleaning up and banishing headaches, Hermione sat on her sofa with Ginny, wearing a partial black cat costume, as everyone but her and Harry had left,

"So, when are you moving in?" Hermione asked her,

"As soon as possible, mum found a few more things in there including a boggart, but she got rid of them, and it's spotless now, we're replacing the wall paper and the carpet at the moment." said Ginny, "That should take, I don't know, a couple of weeks, but then we'll start moving our stuff over and then ourselves."

"Good, good for you." said Hermione, "It is great, having your own place"

"Yeah, because you can do what we did last night." said Ginny, "Which makes me wonder what I shall do for your bachelorette party, I've already decided that the bridal shower should be in the barn."

"Do I need a bridal shower _and _a bachelorette party?" Hermione asked,

"Yes, the bridal shower is elegant, you invite your family, small children, the elderly, but the bachelorette party is only for friends and believe me, there's not a shred of elegance to it." said Ginny, "Anyway, we should be off, come on Harry." Harry came to her, he had been chatting with Ron and was still wearing the cloak from his Grim Reaper costume, they said goodbye and they both left leaving just Hermione and Ron behind.

"Hey, do you know about the holding cells?" asked Hermione,

"Yes, why?" he asked,

"I wondered in there yesterday, I just thought it would be bigger news, that's all." she said,

"Yeah, no-one likes to go in there really, anyway," he said, changing the subject, "It was pretty crazy last night, huh?"

"Yeah, that's two crazy Halloweens in a row." said Hermione,

"Okay, what happened last Halloween, you always get weird when it comes up and I have to know why." he begged,

"Fine," Hermione conceded, "You really want to know?"

"Yes." he nodded,

"Okay, I kissed Ginny." she admitted,

"You what?" he asked in shock,

"Let me finish," she continued, "It isn't as it sounds, Ginny kissed me because some Slytherin slipped some love potion into the punch, Ginny drank it, saw me and just…sort of…caught me off guard." Ron looked serious for a moment and then burst into laughter, "So you're not mad then?" she asked,

"Mad?" he said, still laughing, "It's hilarious, you and Ginny, oh, I can't wait to tell Harry, gold, pure gold that." he said. Hermione gave a sarcastic smile and walked off.


	9. Chapter 9

**A Day in Hogsmeade**

October then turned to November and Hermione continued working hard, she got home from work one day and sat on the sofa, not long after that an owl flew through the window. It was a regular barn owl and it dropped an envelope on Hermione's lap, it flew back out the way it had come and Hermione found herself tearing into the envelope, she pulled out a coupon that said: _Wiz Kidz._ Hermione didn't no what it was until she pulled a small note out from behind it that said:

_Come on down to Hogsmeade, Hermione,_

_Danielle_

That's when Hermione knew what it was; Danielle was her Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher during the previous year, she had left Hogwarts to start a wizarding toy shop in Hogsmeade village, Hermione presumed that Wiz Kidz was the name of that shop. She had been Hermione's favorite teacher as she connected with her more, she too felt that house elves were important and she supported S.P.E.W, there was a while when Hermione thought that Danielle was trying to kill her, but that was all in the past. Hermione decided that she would go up to Hogsmeade sometime soon and see the shop along with Danielle.

That weekend, Hermione went down to Hogsmeade with Ginny (she didn't think that'd would be Ron's sort of thing), who had also received a coupon from Danielle. They walked up the village of Hogsmeade and went into the Three Broomsticks, a pub. They sat down and ordered two butterbeers,

"So, what do you think the shop will be like then?" asked Ginny, sipping a butterbeer,

"I don't know," Hermione admitted, "It sounds good though."

"I'm not sure that I'll buy anything though, cos, you know, it's a toy shop, and I'm eighteen." Ginny pointed out,

"Well, that doesn't mean we can't look around, see Danielle, I'm not that interested in practical jokes and yet I still enjoy Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes." Hermione told her,

"Yeah, I suppose, do you know where it is?" asked Ginny,

"No, but all you have to do is look for a building with a sign that says: _Wiz Kidz_." said Hermione.

"As long as we don't have a repeat of last year, so far in this village, we've been attacked by fairies, a red cap, doxies and death eaters." said Ginny,

"I doubt it." said Hermione

The two of them finished their butterbeers, paid for them, and were back outside, treading on the light layer of snow.

"Where to next then?" asked Ginny,

"Well we could cut to the chase and go straight there." suggested Hermione,

"No." said Ginny, "I want to build up to it, we'll go…ooh, here." Ginny then went into Zonko's Joke Shop and Hermione followed her.

When she got in she saw shelves filled with the likes of dungbombs, hiccough sweets, frog spawn soap, sugar quills, nose-biting teacups and more. Ginny was browsing through the fanged frisbees and Hermione went up to her,

"What are you looking for?" she asked,

"Nothing particular." said Ginny, "just looking around."

Ginny ended up buying some dungbombs and a fanged frisbee and she put them into her own bag. They left the shop and continued through the village.

"Okay, I get to pick next." said Hermione as she led Ginny into Tomes and Scrolls, the book shop, Ginny moaned. Hermione flicked through the shelves, looking for books that would catch her eye. Hermione went to the counter with three books, _Important Modern Magical Discoveries, A Study of Recent Development in Wizardry _and _Standard Book of Spells: Grade Eight._ She paid for them and slipped them into her beaded bag.

"Great, you have your books, now can we leave, this place is _so_ boring." Ginny complained, the lady behind the counter cleared her throat and stared at Ginny,

"But not whilst you're running it, obviously, you bring such liveliness to the room." Ginny told the woman, she snarled and walked away, Ginny casually mentioned on their way out that the woman was as boring as a flobberworm, which Hermione had to agree with.

They then went into Dominic Maestro's, a music shop, to look around. Hermione saw instruments, some stationary, some playing themselves; she saw records for sale to be played on gramophones, which were also for sale. The nice thing about this shop was, thanks to the orchestra of instruments that played themselves; it had a soothing atmosphere created by the classical music. Ginny purchased a record and Hermione bought a harmonica which she found a nice instrument to play.

They then strolled into Gladrags Wizardwear, the Hogsmeade clothes shop. Hermione saw school robes, dress robes, all kinds of robes including socks that screamed when they were too smelly. Hermione and Ginny moved in and out of the mannequins wearing clothes. Ginny bought a new pair of shoes and had to ask Hermione to put the shoe box into her beaded bag as Ginny's bag was too small, Hermione accepted.

They walk past Madame Puddifoot's Tea Shop and Ginny scoffed,

"The haunt of happy couples, that's what Harry calls it anyway." said Ginny,

"Yeah," Hermione agreed, "It's a bit too cozy for my taste."

"You should see it on Valentine's Day, there are so many hearts that it'll make you want to stab your own." Ginny told her, "Ah, now there's a shop that I love." Hermione followed Ginny as she walked into Honeydukes sweet shop.

The smell of the interior was intoxicating, it made you want to buy everything. Ginny was looking at the lollipops but soon dismissed them as she found a shelf filled with chocolate. Hermione looked at the liquorish wands, the sugar mice, the cauldron cakes and more, all of which, she knew were delicious. They ended up buying two large bagfuls, one bag each, which included the likes of Drooble's best blowing Gum, chocoballs, choco-loco, fudge flies, jelly slugs, ice mice, pixie puffs, acid pops, crystallized pineapple, sugar quills and a few more of Honeydukes's specialties.

Across the street was a hair salon, they debated on whether or not they should go in whilst snacking but were distracted by a bright light a few doors down. The two of them walked up to it and stared at the bright, glowing, multi-coloured sign that said: _Wiz Kidz_. They walked through the door and entered the shop. They looked around at the amazing shop, it had a miniature train track that ran around the roof of the building with a miniature Hogwarts Express that really puffed smoke, it disappeared through the wall. Hermione saw a toy pygmy puff on top of a toy puffskein on top of a globe; she saw a hobbyunicorn leaning on a chair with a witch's hat on it. There was a stack of shelves with rag dolls, finger puppets, a toy chest, a fob watch, a Jack-in-the-box, a teddy bear, everything from a stuffed rabbit to a stuffed unicorn, a model centaur battle scene, a music box with a dancing fairy that really danced, a bust with a toy snake around its neck and a crown on its head. Toy broomsticks were stood against the wall, astronomy hangings were pinned to the wall, dream catchers and toy mermaids hung from the ceiling, a huge stuffed dragon sat next to a gramophone, above that was a shelf with snow globes on it and above those were voodoo dolls. Fake bats hung on the wall as did kites, clocks that were similar to the one in the burrow indicating where family members were and a portrait of a plimpy that was swimming. Crystal balls sat on a dresser. On the opposite wall there were cloaks on the wall along with masks of animals such as gorillas, wolves and bears. It had sock puppets of a badger, a snake, a lion and an eagle, a toy Knight Bus drove along the floor. Extendable ears were on the wall and they were wearing earrings, studs, hoops and plugs, another bust wearing many necklaces and chokers and there was a model hand wearing bracelets and rings. Hermione saw a sewing kit, a rack with Hogwarts ties on it, fairy wings that were part of a costume, an owl cage, watches, more busts with wigs on them, shrunken heads hanging from the ceiling and a shelf with little figurines on it with a sign that said: _The battle of Hogwarts, _it had figurines of Harry, Ron, Hermione, Voldemort, Bellatrix Lestrange, Neville, Ginny, Luna, Professor Flitwick and Professor McGonagall, Hermione was quite flattered that a figurine of her was made, when they took all of this in, only one word came to both of there lips,

"Wow."

They walked up to the counter at the end of the room which Danielle was stood behind,

"Ah, Hermione, Ginny, I was beginning to think that you weren't coming." said Danielle,

"Well, we made a few stops along the way," Hermione said,

"I can see that from your massive Honeydukes bags." she smiled,

"Well, yes, Honeydukes was one of them." said Hermione,

"Wow." Ginny repeated,

"I have to agree," Hermione said, "Danielle, this place is amazing." the miniature Hogwarts Express puffed another lap around the shop,

"Thanks." Danielle replied, "you can come in here if you like."

Danielle opened a door behind the counter that led to another room, Danielle walked through it followed by Hermione followed by Ginny. It reminded Hermione much of Danielle's office back at Hogwarts, the armchairs and sofa that were overstuffed and when you sat in them, you sank a little, she had a desk and chair, a coffee table between the armchairs and sofas and, in the corner, a pensive that Hermione had once looked into.

"So, how have you been?" asked Danielle as she poured herself, Hermione and Ginny a cup of tea from a poker dotted teapot. Hermione took a sip of tea and replied,

"Fine, fine, I have a job at the Ministry now."

"Really? Which department are you in?" she asked,

"The Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures." Hermione told her,

"Great, which office?" she asked further,

"They made me my own office, the S.P.E.W office." said Hermione,

"Great, and you Ginny?" she asked,

"I'm the new chaser for the Holyhead Harpies." said Ginny,

"Oh yes, of course, that's my favorite team, I've been to all the matches this league, you're a lot better than your predecessor." Danielle told her,

"Thanks." said Ginny.

"How's business?" Hermione asked Danielle,

"It's been good," said Danielle, a bell rang in the other room which meant that the door had been opened, "Ah, and it sounds like I have costumers." said Danielle, "I have to get out there."

Hermione and Ginny went back to the main room were a rush of Hogwarts students came through the door. After catching up full with Danielle, the two of them left,

"That was quite fun." said Hermione,

"Yeah, a nice day out." said Ginny before the two of them dissapparated.


	10. Chapter 10

**Spreading S.P.E.W**

Hermione was again working in her office with Rita, she was working on a way to make her S.P.E.W flyers and posters more appealing and talk about the absolute extreme worst cases of house elves to try and get some sympathy from people,

"I just can't believe that no-one cares." said Hermione, "You would think that slave labour would be a much bigger deal to people."

"You'd think, but people have gotten to use to house elves to let them go." said Rita,

"I suppose." said Hermione, "I just wish that the house elves were willing to fight back."

"They've, unfortunately, become used to it to." said Rita,

"That's why we should try to convince the younger ones that haven't spent much time as a slave." Hermione said, "We started the ones at Hogwarts off by ordering them to take just a little bit of money each week, then, when they got used to it, we would gradually raise the amount, and then, once they were regularly being paid, they weren't as scared of being freed, so they accepted the clothes that we put out for them, then we gave the younger ones wands so that the next generation would think it was normal, that nearly got them arrested, but you know how that turned out, so, how do we get this across worldwide?" asked Hermione,

"You could start by raising awareness, Miss." Rita suggested,

"That's what I've been doing." said Hermione,

"I know Miss, but you could do it in a more exciting way." said Rita,

"What do you suggest?" asked Hermione,

"Well, you could start with a fundraiser, that's what charities do and people feel sympathy for them." Rita explained,

"Not a bad idea." said Hermione, "So, a fundraiser, like, a party or a gathering."

"That's the general idea, yes, but you'd also need something that the people would want to pay for, an auction, a raffle, a tombola, a celebrity, something that people would pay money for." Rita continued, "You'd also want to make them feel sorry for the house elves."

"What, I could talk about the conditions that they work under or that they don't get time off, what?" asked Hermione,

"I think that you'll need more than that miss, perhaps even…lie, a little." Rita suggested,

"What do you mean…lie?" asked Hermione,

"Well, you could tell a made up, heart retching, story about a house elf who you found living in a gutter that had been so neglected that it's incapable of love because his master would beat him all day and force him to work all night with not even a break to go to the bathroom, he'd work down in the basement where he'd get covered in sewage and was so skinny because his master would only give him just enough food to keep him alive." a tear came to Hermione's eye, "You know, something simple like that." Rita said,

"Simple?" Hermione's jaw was dropped,

"Or better yet, make the house elf tell them him self." said Rita,

"But I don't know any house elves like that." said Hermione,

"House elves aren't incapable of lying, besides, you said once that you were on good terms with, what's her name, Willy?" asked Rita,

"Winky." Hermione corrected her, "But everybody knows that she was Mr. Crouch's elf after all of that dark mark business at the Quidditch world cup, I could use Kreacher though, no-one really knows him, I'll ask Harry if I can use him." said Hermione,

"Sounds great Miss." said Rita,

"Thanks by the way, for the idea." said Hermione,

"Not to worry Miss Granger, it's my job." Rita replied.

"Say Harry?" Hermione was asking at the burrow a few days later,

"Yes?" he replied,

"Could I borrow Kreacher for my fundraiser tonight?" she asked,

"Of course." said Harry, "Kreacher!" he yelled and the ugly form of Kreacher the house elf appeared before Hermione's eyes,

"Yes master?" asked Kreacher,

"You will be with Hermione tonight, alright?" said Harry,

"Yes master." said Kreacher, "Nice to see you again Mistress Mudblood, no, bad Kreacher, Mistress Granger, Kreacher will serve." he said,

"No, no, no, I'll pay you of course." insisted Hermione,

"What, really, thank you, thank you." he hugged her legs, she knew that he was less insistent on not being paid since Hogwarts was now paying him, he was also a lot nicer since Harry had given him Regulus's locket.

"You will have to read this out." Hermione handed him the piece of parchment containing the fake story that she'd written up, "If you memorize it, I'll pay you extra, how does twenty galleons sound?" she asked,

"No, too much, too generous." he said,

"Kreacher, I command you accept." said Hermione who hated resorting to that,

"Then it shall be done Mistress Granger." he said,

"Okay, now you get back to Hogwarts, learn that and I'll call upon you when I need you." said Hermione,

"Goodbye." he vanished with a c_rack_.

"Lying, huh?" asked Harry,

"Yeah, don't judge me Harry, don't you dare." she commanded,

"I'm not, I just didn't think it was very you, that's all." he said,

"It isn't," said Hermione, "but the wizarding world is so reluctant to accept this idea, I have to do something." she said,

"I know, I don't blame you, I respect what you're doing, where's this fundraiser thing anyway, I'll make an appearance." he said,

"Thanks, it's at the Three Broomsticks, I've rented the place for the night, it'll look better with some decorations and…cleaning." said Hermione,

"I'll be there, what time?" he asked,

"Six o' clock." she said, "Bye." he waved goodbye as Hermione walked out of the burrow and dissapparated.

The Three Broomsticks now looked different than it had done when Hermione had last been, the tables and chairs where cleared out of the way, a small stage with a podium was put in as where waiters, food, and a raffle. Hermione had stuck S.P.E.W posters around the place and at the door they were giving out badges that the guests were wearing. She had invited people from the Ministry from all departments; Harry, Ron and Neville were there, as was Kreacher, who was ready at any time to give a speech. People were going around with collection buckets and some people were tossing in the odd Galleon.

Hermione stood and watched as people socialized and paid for raffle tickets, some people were shocked that celebrities, Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley, Quidditch player, would show up to this event and people were trying to talk to them, Hermione had told them to talk about S.P.E.W in a positive way, which they were doing, people were now taking an interest and were both fascinated to know that the two of them had, in the past, been members themselves. Hermione now realised that one of the reasons that no-one had taken much interest in the past was because it was her who was saying it, she should have convinced a celebrity _years_ ago.

Hermione went up to the podium with the microphone and began talking, everyone looked at her,

"Hello everyone," she started, "I hop that you're all having a good time, I am now ready to reveal the tombola winners," people now looked more excited, "Okay first prize is two tickets to an all-wizard Caribbean cruise, second prize is two hundred Galleons spending money that'll be accepted by any shop in Diagon Alley and third prize is a Honeydukes gift basket, okay, let's get to the winners," Hermione put her hand into the bowl of tickets and pulled one out, "winner of the Honeydukes gift basket is number…three hundred and eighty nine," someone within the crowd cheered and came up to the front, Hermione handed him the basket full of Honeydukes goodies, shook is hand and he thanked her, she dipped her hand into the bowl of tickets again and pulled one out, "Okay, the winner of the two hundred Galleons spending money in any Diagon Alley shop is…twenty four!" she exclaimed, a witch from the crowd came up to collect her vouchers and left again, "And finally," said Hermione, dipping her hand in the ticket bowl once more and pulling out a ticket, "The first prize winner, winner of the Caribbean cruise for two, all wizard, I can now reveal that this person, this lucky person is…number…one hundred and two!" she exclaimed as a very happy wizard came up to the podium, was handed the tickets and left again with the crowd clapping.

The party went on for a while until Hermione thought that it was time to pull out the big guns, she went up to the podium and spoke once more,

"Excuse me people, if I could have your attention once again please," they looked at the stage, "Thank you for making tonight such a success, but now it's time to witness what this evening has been all about, I would like you to welcome Kreacher the house elf." the people clapped, Hermione stepped off of the stage and Kreacher walked on, carrying a chair to stand on so that he could reach the microphone, Hermione stood next to Rita who said to her,

"It's show time." Kreacher got up there and cleared his throat, he began to speak.

"Hello everyone," he said, "Kreacher's here to tell you my story, before Kreacher came to Hogwarts he was not the same elf that stands before you, he was living with a master who, for fun, would beat him all day until Kreacher was black and blue all over, Kreacher worked down in the basement and the house had leakage problems so he would have to walk and work in the sewage, sometimes my own, as he was not allowed to use a bathroom, when his master saw him starting to fail at his duties, he'd whip him into shape, Kreacher had cuts on my back for years, he had been starved to the point that he was practically a skeleton as his master would only ever give me enough food and water to keep alive, and when he did, the water was dirty and the food was anything that he was going to throw out, because of Kreacher's unnatural rejection, he was, and am to this day, incapable of loving another being. When his master moved, he didn't tell Kreacher, he left him down there to work, by the time he had figured it out and escaped, he was so weak. Kreacher collapsed in the gutters, skinny, bruised and neglected. Fortunately for Kreacher, he was rescued by S.P.E.W, they found Kreacher, healed him, fed him, got him a job working at Hogwarts where Kreacher get paid, sick leave, holidays, three meals a day and everything that all elves should be allowed access too but can't. This is what S.P.E.W plan to do world over, to save house elves that ended up like me, Kreacher was lucky, others aren't, house elves everywhere die thanks to abusive masters everyday, by passing laws and issuing rescue teams, S.P.E.W can give elves a second chance and a new start for the next generation of house elves, you can help achieve that by donating a little money and if you have house elves at home, treat them with respect, you can receive full details from Hermione Granger's office, thank you." Kreacher jumped off of his chair and off of the stage, the room was silent, tears were in some peoples' eyes and they started putting a lot more money into the donation buckets.

By the end of the night, the buckets were full and they made prophet on the evening that they could give to house elves. For the next few days the whole Ministry was buzzing about Kreacher's story and how good S.P.E.W was and they started to receive regular donations. Many people were now taking an interest and more and more applicants started to sign up to work at the S.P.E.W office and soon, a house elf rescue squad was devised.


	11. Chapter 11

**The Office Party**

Advent had arrived and Ron and Hermione had decorated the house and the barn ready for Christmas. Hermione was once again working in her office, which she had also decorated, with Rita,

"Ooh, Miss, I almost forgot to give you the message, we are invited to the departments Christmas party." said Rita,

"Really, where is it?" asked Hermione,

"I believe that this year it's our departments turn to have the party on the yacht." Rita told her,

"Yacht?" asked Hermione, "Where's the yacht?"

"I believe that you can ask anyone in the department for the details, Miss." said Rita,

"Okay, I will." said Hermione.

"Well, I think that it's safe to say that the fundraiser worked." said Rita,

"Yes," said Hermione, "They've started employing for the house elf rescue squad."

"I know Miss." said Rita, "Kreacher's story came off very well, we have tall the funding we need now, and people are finally taking an interest." This was true and Hermione thought that it was great.

Hermione had received all of the details about the Christmas party, she told Ron and he told her that he too was invited to a department Christmas party, but not the same one, his was the Department of Magical Law Enforcement whereas Hermione's was the department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Hermione didn't know her department all that well but was friendly with all of them, the only one that she spoke to on a regular basis was Rita.

Hermione picked out a nice dress for the party and met Ron before the two of them were about to leave,

"Okay, is Leontes in his cage?" she asked,

"Yes," Ron replied,

"Is Zelda away from Crookshanks?" she asked,

"Yes," he replied,

"Is Crookshanks away from Pigwidgeon?" she asked,

"Yes," he said,

"And Pigwidgeon is far enough away that he won't taunt Crookshanks?" she asked,

"Yes," he said again,

"Okay then, let's go." she said, the two of them walked out of the door and locked it behind them,

"You have a good time." he said,

"I will." she said and the two of them dissapparated.

Hermione appeared on a muggle street, it was evening, so the streetlights provided light, she walked around the corner and saw the harbour, she saw a yacht with lights and music coming from it, she smiled, and walked towards it.

Hermione got closer and closer to the harbour; she walked up the slope that led to the yacht's deck. She saw people that worked in the department, people who were usually smart, drunk and misbehaving; everyone seemed to be having a good time. Hermione grabbed a glass of firewhiskey from a waiter and looked up at the beautifully decorated Christmas tree on the deck.

The music was playing and people were dancing, the boat left the harbour and went out to open waters, and Hermione felt lively, she walked into the inside part of the boat where people were dining, the tables were set up elegantly and the music was classical in here. Hermione sat with a table filled with random people and began eating,

"Best in here than out there, you don't want to get your name made." said the man sitting next to her,

"What do you mean?" asked Hermione,

"Oh, you're the new girl, well, let me explain it to you, people within the departments know people for what they do at these sort of events, like, that man," he pointed at an old wizard at another table, "People know him as the man who danced on a table swinging his top around, and, ooh, her," he pointed at a witch at another table, "she's forever known as the woman who stuffed one hundred and ninety two Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans in her mouth." he said,

"Wow," said Hermione,

"Yes, which is why it's better to stay in here rather than out there." he said.

Hermione took heed to the man's warning but didn't take it too seriously, as long as she avoided doing anything embarrassing or drinking too much firewhiskey. Hermione sat through the meal of roast chicken and chips, an odd but delicious combination, and waited for dessert which was to be vanilla ice cream, Hermione ate that and then the inside dancing started. Hermione sat down as the others danced and drank some mead that the bar was serving, Hogsmeade's finest.

Hermione soon stood up and started dancing; keeping to herself and not doing anything that might embarrass herself or 'give her a name', but she didn't really all care that much, she wasn't worried about embarrassing herself. There had been few moments when Hermione had been embarrassed, three of those moments happened last year at the school dances, in one of them she kissed Ginny, in another one she got drunk and sang in front of everyone and in the other one she got into a cat-fight with Katrina Walker.

Hermione soon saw Rita standing in the corner; she walked up to her,

"Hey Rita, I haven't seen you all night." said Hermione,

"No, well, I was at the office." said Rita,

"What were you doing there?" asked Hermione,

"I had some work to finish," said Rita,

"But we finished all of the work before we left today." said Hermione,

"Oh, um, yes, of course, but, I…had to file something," she said, "There was a folder that I forgot to file."

"Oh, okay, come and dance." Hermione insisted,

"Oh, no, I don't think so Miss." she said,

"Come on, it'll be fun." Hermione tried,

"Oh, alright." Rita conceded and Hermione dragged her out to the dance floor where the two of them danced. The music was quite modern; a song by the Weird Sisters, Hermione recognised it, quite lively, fun to dance to as she found out alongside Rita.

It got warm inside very fast so Hermione and Rita went outside to get some fresh air. The outside had people smoking and drinking and it had modern music but it was all muggle music, Hermione supposed it was in case a muggle heard it.

Hermione had some more firewhiskey but didn't feel like she was to do anything embarrassing yet. People were shooting jets of water out of their wands and sliding along in it on their stomachs, other people were doing tightrope acts on the sails and someone was climbing up the Christmas tree. People used magic to get him down.

She continued to dance on the deck with Rita and they got other people dancing around them, soon enough, everyone on the deck was dancing wildly. Hermione had more firewhiskey and so did Rita, everyone continued to dance. People got out beach balls and started to throw them amongst everyone, Hermione threw a couple and other people caught them and soon they were just a crowd with a load of beach balls bouncing up and down on them, some of them went overboard and floated out to sea.

Hermione climbed on the railing on the edge and stood up on it, being careful not to slip backwards, she maintained her balance, caught a beach ball, threw it back, people cheered and she dived, she was caught by the crowd who cheered even more now, she was carried along to the other side and dropped off on the floor behind everyone.

She took a step forward and she was in the water that the people were belly-sliding in. Her legs flailed and she waved her arms about, everyone's back was turned so no-one tried to help her, she skidded along the water, getting closer to the edge, she did a full-on slip and went for the rails, she grabbed on before she could go over them,

"Few, I thought I was going to-" Hermione had turned around and her heel snapped, she tripped, fell backwards and flipped over the rail.

Hermione fell down the side of the boat and soon enough: _splash!_ She had hit the water, she was under the surface for a bit, she couldn't get up, she swam around for a bit, trying to get air, but couldn't, her hand came up at the surface and soon, her other hand did, her hands cupped, and she started scooping the water, she kicked her legs and rose her head from the salt water.

She was still for a while, just floating there, everyone's backs were turned when she fell, maybe she wouldn't make a name for herself, maybe no-one noticed. Suddenly, heads started poking over the railings, Hermione looked up and all of the people who were on the deck all stared at Hermione down there, yes, she would forever be known as the girl who fell off of the yacht.

Hermioine tried to hide herself but it was no use, everyone had seen her and were still staring at her in awe of what had just happened,

"How did she get down there?" she heard someone ask,

"Is no-one going to help me out then?" Hermione called up, then she saw Rit come up to the railings,

"Right away Miss." she said, she pointed her wand at Hermione and said, "_Accio Hermione._" Hermione allowed herself to be taken and felt herself zoom upwards, Rita must have been quite skilled to have achieved that, Hermione thought.

She stood on the deck after Rita had helped her, she was soaking wet, dripping everywhere, she picked up her heel that had snapped and took off her shoes,

"Thank you, Rita." said Hermione,

"No problem Miss." said Rita, Hermione held out her hand and Rita shook it, Hermione nodded and walked away.

Hermione went back into the inside section which was still dancing elegantly, Hermione walked up to the man who had told her about 'making a name for yourself' and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around and looked at Hermione, her outfit drenched through, her broken shoes dripping in her hand and her hair more frizzy than normal, frizzy and soggy,

"Guess what." she said to him,

"What happened to you?" he asked,

"I made a name for myself." Hermione told him before storming off and leaving him confused.


	12. Chapter 12

**Christmas in the Muggle World**

Hermione had got the next three days off, Christmas Eve, Christmas day and Boxing Day, she and Ron were packing for those three days in the bedroom,

"Tell me again why we can't just go to my parents' house for Christmas." Ron was saying,

"Because," Hermione replied, "We spent last Christmas with your parents so this year its time for us to go to my parents, I thought we could have some sort of yearly thing going, you know, take it in turns on who gets to have us." Hermione tried,

"Yeah, I guess." Ron moaned,

"Look, it's only two nights and my parents have never met you properly." said Hermione,

"Yes they have." said Ron,

"When?" asked Hermione,

"When I asked for their blessing to propose to you." he said,

"Oh, that, well, they've never met us as a couple." she pointed out,

"They were at my house last Christmas, we were a couple then too." he said,

"Look, stop moaning, we're going, and that's that." Hermione settled,

"Fine." he caved,

"It'll still be fun, we'll have turkey and presents and you'll still get your maroon 'R' jumper from your mother." Hermione giggled,

"Oh yeah, cos that's selling it." he laughed, "You all packed yet?" he asked,

"No, I just have to do toiletries." said Hermione,

"Okay, I only have to do, well, pretty much everything." he admitted, Hermione rolled her eyes and giggled.

"And you're sure that you'll be fine with them all?" Hermione was asking Ginny,

"Yes, they'll be alright, have a good time, bye." she said,

"Bye." said Hermione, Ginny walked out of the door with Leontes on a lead, Zelda on her shoulder, Crookshanks walking beside her and Pigwidgeon in a cage in her hand, just as Hermione was thinking that she had too many pets, Ron came down the stairs with a suitcase,

"Okay, I'm all packed." he said as he dragged the suitcase along the last few steps,

"You know, it has wheels so that you don't have to carry it." Hermione pointed out as she tapped the wheels on the bottom of his suitcase and pulled up the handle, Ron dragged it along to her,

"Well I'll be damned." he said,

"Come on, let's go." Hermione left through the front door followed by Ron who locked it behind them, they casually walked off of the porch and suddenly dissapparated.

They appeared in a narrow alley we,

"Where are we?" asked Ron,

"We're at the right location but it looks a bit strange to muggles when two people appear out of no-where." Hermione explained,

"Good point." said Ron, hey walked out of the alley way,

"Ah, there it is." Hermione pointed out her parents' house down the street, all of the houses, including that one, were decorated for Christmas.

Ron followed Hermione to the front door; Hermione rang the doorbell, waited for a few seconds until her mother answered it,

"Mum!" Hermione explained,

"Hello sweetheart." her mother said, they hugged and Hermione realised that it had been quite a long while since she had seen her parents, "Ah, and this is Ron."

"Hello Mrs. Granger." said Ron, who held out a hand to shake, Hermione's mother ignored it and hugged Ron,

"Welcome to the family." she said, the two of them walked into the house and closed the door behind them,

"So where can we put our bags?" asked Hermione, but before she received an answer, her father emerged from the kitchen,

"Hey, is that my daughter I see and my soon to be son in law?" he asked rhetorically before hugging the two of them,

"Hi dad." said Hermione,

"Hello Mr. Granger." said Ron,

"Hello son." he said,

"Hermione, you can put you're your bag in your room and Ron, you can put your bag in the guest room, directly down the hall at the top of the stairs." her mother said.

"Wait, we're not in the same room?" Hermione asked,

"Well, you're not married yet." said Hermione's father,

"But, we share a bed at home." said Hermione,

"Well, that's fine, just not here." said her mother,

"Yes okay." said Hermione, the two of them went upstairs, Hermione went in her room and put her suitcase at the foot of her bed, Ron, however went down the hall to the guest room.

That evening, after dinner, Hermione's parents brought out Monopoly, Hermione's cheeks went a bit red, Hermione was the car, Ron was the dog, her mother was the thimble and her father was the shoe. After a small while, Hermione was surprised to see that Ron was actually enjoying himself, she supposed that he had never played Monopoly before growing up in the wizarding world.

After Hermione's triumphant win at Monopoly, the four of them sat down in the living room and watched some television,

"So how many channels are there?" Ron was asking, he was fascinated by the television as it was not part of his day to day life, Hermione had had television growing up but she had always preferred reading a book as appose to watching a movie. Ron flicked through the channels, in awe of it all, and finally settled on the sports, typical, though, he had never really seen muggle sports either, he's grown up with Quidditch, he was asking her dad all of these questions and Hermione could see the two of them starting to bond which was nice.

When Hermione went to bed and laid down, she couldn't sleep, something didn't feel right, then she realised, Ron wasn't there, it was like something was missing, she lay there for about half an hour, until her bedroom door creaked open. Ron entered the room and closed the door behind him,

"What are you doing here?" she asked,

"I couldn't sleep without you." he whispered, Hermione opened her cover and whispered,

"What took you so long?" he smiled and climbed into bed with her,

"I wanted to make sure that your parents were definitely asleep." he said, he lay next to her, face to face,

"Well, goodnight." Hermione whispered,

"Goodnight, oh, and merry Christmas." he said,

"Merry Christmas." she replied, she closed her eyes and slept like a baby.

Hermione woke up that morning, Christmas morning, facing Ron, she smiled,

"Ron," she called, "Ron," she called again, she smacked him in the face, he woke up, "Oh, hey, you're up." she said in fake surprise,

"Yeah, I think I dreamed that I was being smacked in the face." he said,

"Crazy." she said, she kissed him, she then heard her parents bedroom door open, she shot out of bed,

"What is it?' he asked,

"Every Christmas in this house, my parents come into my room and wake me up and you shouldn't be here." she explained, he got up,

"What should I do?" he asked, She heard footsteps on the way to her room,

"Hide." she said frantically, she opened the wardrobe and pushed him in it,

"Ow." he said,

"Sorry." she replied, she closed the door and rushed back into bed, her door opened and her parents walked in,

"Hey honey." her mum said,

"Ready for Christmas?" her father said,

"Oh, hey mum, dad." she said turning over, pretending to have just woken up, she got out of bed and they walked out of the room,

"I'll go and get Ron up," she said, "You go downstairs."

"Nonsense, I'll do it." her mother said as her father went downstairs, she headed for Ron's room,

"You know I really think that I should-" her mother opened the door,

"Hello Ron." she said,

"What?" asked Hermione, looking into the room,

"Good morning Mrs. Granger," said Ron, sitting on the bed, "and Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas to you Ron." said Hermione's mother, she turned around and went downstairs,

"How did you-?" Hermione asked when her mother was out of earshot,

"Thank God you can apparate in muggle houses, even from within wardrobes." Ron said, Hermione giggled.

They went downstairs and sat on the sofa together, her dad in the armchair as her mother handed out presents, Ron was first, he received a maroon sweater with a large 'R' on it from Mrs. Weasley, Hermione was next to open a gift and she got some new clothes from her parents. During the morning she received an 'H' jumper from Mrs. Weasley, some chocolate from Harry and Ginny,

"Just because they're going to be living together from now on, that means we get one present from both of them, cheap." Ron was saying, she also got a box of Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans from Neville, a cheap broomstick from Demelza with a note that said: _Because every girl deserves to ride one_, and from Ron she got a framed photo of Harry, Ron and Hermione from Hogwarts and one of just the two of them together along with another silver charm for the charm bracelet she had gotten from Ron about a year before, so far it had a book, an otter, a candle, a star, an angel and a couple of others, all little and silver and Hermione added a little silver charm of two rings crossed together which Hermione supposed symbolized the wedding.

During the day, Ron helped Hermione's father with the turkey which he enjoyed and they bonded further, he continued to watch television and Hermione managed to sneak in more than a few kisses under the mistletoe.

They ate the dinner together Hermione pulled two crackers at a time with Ron, won one and lost the other; they put their crowns on and read out their jokes,

"'What do you call a fish in the Sahara Desert?'" Hermione read out, "'Lost.'" she said,

"'What's black, white and red all over?'" asked Ron, "'A penguin with a nappy rash', well that was terrible." he said,

"Yeah, they both were." said Hermione, she shrugged and continued with her turkey as did Ron who, so far, was having a really good time.

Time came for them to leave, Hermione and Ron waved goodbye to her parents and left,

"So, can we go back next year?" asked Ron, who had had a good time,

"But next year is your parents' turn." said Hermione,

"Oh, that's right, does it have to be?" he asked, Hermione smiled,

"I knew you could have fun at a muggle Christmas." said Hermione, Ron nodded and the two of them went home.


	13. Chapter 13

**Letter from Looney**

A knock came on the door of Hermione's house, Hermione got up and went to answer it, she opened the door and Ginny stood there,

"Guess what a little birdie gave to me, literally, an owl dropped it off." she said,

"What?" asked Hermione

"Guess." said Ginny,

"Or you could just tell me." Hermione suggested,

"Good point, you'd never get it anyway, here." said Ginny holding up a picture with an ocean on it,

"What, did the sea hurt you?" asked Hermione jokingly,

"No." said Ginny, "It's a postcard, I just read it myself."

"From who?" asked Hermione,

"Who d'you think?' said Ginny, "Just read it." she commanded, she handed it over to Hermione who took it, she let Ginny in, closed the door behind her and they sat on the sofa, Hermione began to read, it was from Luna:

_To All,_

_ I'm having a great time on my adventures; I've encountered loads of well-known beasts and discovered a few myself (I'll tell you about the nargles when I get back), thanks for the bag Hermione, it's a lot of fun just me, Newt and my bike, I've met so many interesting people and experienced a lot of fascinating cultures. I'm definitely richer for the experience, I'll try to make it back to England for Hermione's wedding, just tell me where it is, use the owl I sent you, she'll know where to find me, I miss you all, Ginny, Hermione, Harry, Ron, Demmy and all of you,_

_Love Luna xxxx_

"Wow, well, sounds like she made the right choice." said Hermione,

"Yeah,' said Ginny, "By the way, what did she mean, 'thanks for the bag Hermione'?"

"Oh, before she left, she asked more to do the same extension on her bag that I have on mine, I didn't know why at the time." Hermione explained,

"And what did she mean her 'bike'?" asked Ginny,

"I don't know." Hermione admitted.

"Notice how she didn't put Neville at the end." Ginny pointed out,

"Yeah, I suppose that he's listed as 'all of you', besides, she's probably trying to get over him." Hermione suggested,

"Yeah, I suppose." said Ginny,

"Speaking of Neville, I haven't seen him in a while." said Hermione,

"Don't you see him at work?" asked Ginny,

"Yes, but, he seems distracted lately." Hermione told her,

"Yeah, I haven't seen him either." said Ginny

"I think that we should send a letter back to Luna." said Hermione,

"Okay, you right it, and I'll give it to the owl." said Ginny,

"Lazy." Hermione muttered as she went to pull out some parchment, a quill and some ink, she began to jot things down:

_Dear Luna,_

_ Thank you for the postcard, We're so glad that you're having a good time wherever you are, keep on making those discoveries and we hope you have fun. The wedding is on June sixth, but be in town for about two-three weeks before, I have already got you a bridesmaid dress, yes, you're a brides maid, and the plan is too far advanced so you can't say no, we all miss you deeply, we hope to see you soon_

_From,_

_ All of us._

Hermione put it in an envelope and gave it to Ginny,

"Give it to the owl." Hermione instructed,

"I will." said Ginny, she left the house and dissapparated, Hermione closed the door behind her.

Hermione sat in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement eating lunch with Harry and Ron,

"Did you read the postcard from Luna?" Hermione asked Harry,

"Yeah, why?" he asked,

"No reason, just asking." said Hermione,

"Did you notice how she didn't put Neville's name on it." said Ron,

"Yeah, well, the two of them did break up." said Harry,

"Yeah, but I would've thought that Luna would want to be friends with Neville, even after the break up, they were never that serious, were they?" Hermione said,

"She could have just forgotten to put Neville's name on the-" Harry was cut off by the sound of someone entering the room and clearing their throat,

"What are you talking about?" asked Neville,

"Nothing…nothing much." said Ron,

"Really, because I heard my name come up." he said,

"No, no, well yes, but…um…" Harry tried,

"Luna sent a letter." Hermione caved, Harry and Ron sighed, "What, he was grilling me."

"Really? Really?" said Harry,

"Look, guys, I don't care if Luna sent a letter or not, I'm over her." he said,

"Okay, fine, you're over her." Harry complied,

"Bye." he said,

"Where are you going?" Hermione stopped him,

"Just…for a lunch break." he said, he left,

"Have you guys noticed that he's been acting strange lately, sort of, secretive." said Ron,

"Yeah." Harry and Hermione answered in unison, Hermione pondered an idea in her head,

"Harry?" she asked, "Where do you keep your invisibility cloak?"

"Well, I always bring it to work in case I need it." said Harry,

"Great, where is it?" asked Hermione more forcefully,

"In my coat cupboard." he said, slightly frightened, Hermione got up,

"Where are you going?" asked Ron,

"For a break." said Hermione, she left.

She went to Harry's office, stole his invisibility cloak from his cupboard and put it on. She saw Neville going into a lift and quickly ran in before it left. It took them to the main floor of the Ministry, with the fountain, and Neville went up a fireplace, Hermione went up the same one and they appeared in the toilet that they would normally go to work in. Neville had no idea Hermione was there as she was still completely invisible.

"He began to dissapparate so Hermione lightly place a finger on his shoulder and was transported with him. Hermione was lucky to still be wearing the invisibility cloak after all of the swirling and mixing around involved in apparition, but she was. They had appeared at the end of Diagon Alley, Neville straightened up his outfit and walked onwards. Hermione walked past Weasleys' Wizard wheezes and saw George and Angelina inside it. She continued to follow Neville, she wanted to know where he was going, he came to a brick wall, tapped a particular brick with his wand and an archway formed in the bricks, Neville walked into the pub followed by Hermione, the Leaky Cauldron.

Hermione saw many witches and wizards in the bar, she had stayed here many times before, she saw Hannah Abbott as the bar tender, Hermione's old classmate, Neville went up to the bar and Hermione stood behind him and listened in,

"Hello Hannah." said Neville,

"Hi Nev, the usual?' she asked,

"Indeed." he said, she leaned over the bar and kissed him, Hermione's jaw dropped,

"My shift will be over in a couple of minutes, we can go out then." she said,

"Sounds great." said Neville; they kissed again, "I love you."

"I love you too." she replied before walking off to the back, this would explain why he had gotten over Luna so quickly.

"I'm telling you, they were kissing and saying 'I love you' to each other." said Hermione to Harry and Ron when she returned to the office, they were both disbelieving it,

"No, Neville, Hannah Abbott, just no." said Ron,

"Yes, I saw them." Hermione insisted,

"No, we believe you, we just…" started Harry,

"Don't?" suggested Ron,

"That's it," said Harry,

"Well, it would explain why he's over Luna." said Ron,

"Exactly," said Hermione, "and Neville's-" she was cut off by Neville entering the room,

"Okay, you should where a bell." said Harry,

"So," said Neville, "You guys talking about me again, I heard my name, _again_."

"Well, you see…um…" tried Harry again,

"I spied on you." Hermione said, Harry and Ron once again sighed,

"What?" asked Neville,

"We know you're going out with Hannah Abbott mate." said Ron,

"You do, huh?" asked Neville,

"Yes," said Hermione,

"Well, I was going to tell you eventually." said Neville,

"How long has it been going on, was it whilst you were with Luna?" asked Harry,

"No, no, no, I would never do something like that." Neville demanded,

"Good." said Hermione,

"So, how _did_ it start?" asked Ron,

"Well, when I broke up with Luna I was a bit depressed, so, I went into the Leaky Cauldron to, well, drink, and I talked to Hannah Abbott and she consoled me and we got to talking and found out that we had a lot in common, it wasn't long before we were dating properly." Neville explained,

"Oh, okay." said Hermione.

Hermione received an owl at her house with a letter, a letter from Luna; Hermione opened it and read it:

_Dear Hermione,_

_ I would be extremely honoured to be your bridesmaid, I simply cannot wait, I should be in town for the wedding and am expecting to be arriving back in the country by May the sixteenth and will be leaving again after the wedding to complete my travels, I still have many beasts and creatures to find and discover, see you soon,_

_Love Luna xxxx_

Hermione looked at the letter and smiled and then she wondered how Luna would react if she found out that her ex-boyfriend was in love with another girl, Luna was not one to be petty or jealous, but still…


	14. Chapter 14

**The Break In**

Hermione walked into the room adjacent to her office, this was the workplace of the house elf rescue squad, Hermione had not yet met them and wanted to see if any actual progress had been made,

"Ah, hello Miss Granger." said one of the wizards in there, there was a lot of planning and mapping going on around her,

"Hmmm, you're very formal." she pointed out,

"Well, you are my boss." he said,

"What?" asked Hermione, shocked at this,

"Well, you run the S.P.E.W office and this is just an extension of that." he said,

"Oh," said Hermione, coming to terms with it, "So how's everything going?" Hermione asked,

"Rather well Miss, so far we've rescued five abandoned house elves and three abused ones." he said,

"What, really?" asked Hermione,

"Yes," he said, "In fact, we're planning a rescue mission tonight." he said,

"Oh, what for?' asked Hermione,

"Well, we've suspected this rich guy, Clement Hodge, of owning house elves illegally, we got someone in and we got pictures of house elves, locked in the basement, turning machinery, cooking non stop, it was awful." he said,

"What do you mean, owning them illegally?" Hermione wondered,

"Well, he stole them, from other people, he's sold out entire third world villages to import them overseas right under the ministry's nose." he explained,

"Wow," said Hermione, "So tell me Mr.…?"

"Grapple, Miss, Earl Grapple." he said,

"Right," said Hermione, "So tell me, Earl Grapple, what is the possibility of me accompanying the rescue squad tonight?"

"Well Miss, as our boss, it's your right to accompany us in any mission you like." he said,

"Great," said Hermione and she walked off to the planning.

Hermione stood with eleven members of the rescue squad outside of Hodge's mansion, it was a very big house, the last time Hermione had seen a house this big was when she was kidnapped by snatchers and taken to Malfoy Manor.

"Okay, everybody know the layout?" asked a wizard on the rescue squad, everyone else, including Hermione, nodded, "And you know the defences?" he asked, everyone nodded again, "Okay, deploy." he said, and they did so, they kept low and stepped onto a stone path that led to a large iron gate.

They were all dressed in black; Hermione wore a hat that controlled her hair. Hermione tapped the gate and an invisible shield rippled in the air, blocking their way in.

"Okay everyone, ready, and go." said a witch on the squad, all twelve of them aimed their wands at the gate and emitted blue lights from their wands, the shield got weaker and it was visible now, it was becoming blue and shiny, where the spells hit it, it rippled, they soon heard it creek and soon they saw it shatter and the parts that had made it up dissolved into the air.

"_Reducto._" said a wizard, and the gate lock exploded and it swung open, the hinges squeaking.

They all rushed in and stopped as they heard the stomping of feet coming towards them. Two suits of armour came from the exotic hedges, one was swinging a mace on a chain and the other was throwing an axe that came back to him like a boomerang. The suits of armour continued to strike down with their weapons, the axe swung in Hermione's direction, she ducked and narrowly missed being beheaded.

"_Wingardium Leviosa_." said Hermione and the axe came out of the armour's hand, Hermione controlled it and then she made it strike at the suit's neck, the helmet came off of the rest of the armour and the axe fell to the ground,

"_Reducto_." said a witch and the chest of the axe suit exploded and now had a hole through the middle, it dropped to the ground.

The other half of the group was handling the suit with the mace, it continued to spin around on its chain and people were only just avoiding the spikes of the ball. A wizard jumped onto the back of the suit and it dropped the mace so that it could use both hands to try to pry him off, he succeeded and the wizard flew backwards, it went to pick up the mace,

"_Accio mace_." said Hermione and it flew right into her hand, Hermione held it and now the suit was coming for her, she swung it around and the rescue squad ducked. She bashed the suit with the mace which made a large dent, and again, and again, and again, soon the thing was covered in dents, scratches and holes. Hermione gave it another swing and the chain wrapped around the armour's neck. The suit swung his hands and snapped the chain, pulled it apart with its bare hand. Hermione stepped back as the thing grabbed the chain on its neck and unraveled it, it threw the spike-ball at Hermione and a witch on the squad yelled,

"_Reparo_!" the spike-ball and the chain on it missed Hermione's body and reattached to the handle that she was holding, Hermione had the full mace again, she threw it with all of her force, it spun in the air and the spike ball went right threw the top of the suit's helmet and it caved inwards so that the mace and the helmet were in the suit, they soon tore through the other end and they dropped between it's legs, it fell apart and all of the parts tumbled to the ground with a _clang_.

Hermione led them onwards, past the front door, and to the right of the hedges, they were now in a garden filled with beautiful flowers. They crept along and soon a side-door busted open and ten security guards ran out, each member of the squad chose one to duel with, some of them paired up, Hermione had one all to herself, a wizard, Hermione had her wand ready and started firing stunning spells at him like there was no tomorrow.

He blocked all of the curses, hexes and jinxes that Hermione fired at him and started firing some of his own,

"_Stupefy!_" Hermione roared, the guard ducked, rolled and dodged it, he got up on one knee and quickly fired three stunning spells in Hermione's direction,

"_Protego._" said Hermione, an invisible shield came out of her wand, the spells hit it and fired back at the wall of the mansion and they left a crater in the side of it.

"_Expelliarmus._" said the guard and Hermione was too slow, her wand popped out of her hand, "_Stupefy._" the guard said, Hermione ducked to dodge it and in doing so, picked up her wand,

"_Serpensortia."_ the guard said and a cobra came out of his wand, it slithered along the floor and headed for Hermione, the guard laughed and the snake snapped, Hermione thought fast and said,

"_Diffindo_." the snake came in half and lay dead on the floor, the guard didn't notice and was distracted by his laughing,

"_Petrificus Totalus._" said Hermione and the guard stood rigid and stiff and fell over.

Some other guards were unconscious and Hermione helped duel the ones that weren't, she surprised on by sneaking up on him and stunning him, soon only one guard remained and all twelve of the squad circled around him, they all yelled,

"_Stupefy_!" in unison and the spell came at the guard from all angles, he span on the spot but all of the spells collided with him at the same time and counteracted each other causing the guard to fly upwards, fall back down to the ground and pass out.

They all ran around the corner, alarms rang around the grounds; they made it to a window at the ground that gave a peek at the basement. Hermione crouched down and looked in it. House elves here making products that went along on conveyer belts, smashing down mallets, tinkering with trinkets and putting things together, others were turning large gears to make a machine work and they looked hard to pull, the larger house elves were doing it, others had so much cooking and washing up to do that they were unable to cope, some were scrubbing the floors and a couple sat in the corner in the fetal position, hugging their knees and rocking back and forth, back and forth.

"Oh my God." said Hermione,

"I know," said the witch next to her, that's how he makes his fortune, products like what they're making, come on, we're going in." she said,

"_Reducto!_" yelled a wizard and the glass shattered, the space was just big enough for a person to fit through, Hermione was the last to get in and drop to the basement floor. The house elves were shocked and surprised,

"What is you doings here?" asked a house elves squeaky voice,

"We're here to rescue you." said Hermione but they carried on working, "Did you not here me, we're here to rescue you!" Hermione now yelled,

"We can't leave," said an elf, "Or master punish us." he said,

"Well, we're going to take you away from him." said a wizard,

"It won't matter, he no need to be here to do it." said the elf,

"What do you mean?" asked Hermione, right then a man entered the room, Hermione knew from pictures that it was Clement Hodge,

"What an earth is going on down here!" he roared, "who are you!"

"We're here to save these elves." said a witch,

"You're trying to escape?" he asked,

"No, no, no." squeaked the elves,

"Right, punishment." Hodge waved his wand and the collars around each of the house elves necks emitted lightening, they screamed in terror and pain,

"Stop it, please, stop it!" screamed Hermione in tears, he did so and the house elves breathed heavily,

"Work, work." screeched one of them and they all continued with their work, Hermione thought the word '_Levicorpus_' and Hodge was lifted by the ankles, he hit the door frame, banged his head and Hermione dropped him, he was unconscious, a man came up to the door and they saw a flash but a witch fired a stunning spell and he flew backwards.

"Come on; get out of here, now." Hermione begged the house elves; they shook their heads, scared,

"But he can't punish you now." said a wizard,

"We can't apparate with the collars." squeaked an elf,

"_Alohomora._" said Hermione to a house elves neck, nothing happened,

"Only the master's wand can unlock these." said an elf,

"Okay." said Hermione; she tiptoed up the stairs to the unconscious Hodge, his wand was lying next his open hand Hermione walked up to it and grabbed it, she stood up and something clutched her ankle, she looked down and it was Hodge's hand, he was awake, Hermione tried to shake it off but he pulled and she fell over. She dropped both wands and Hodge got up, a head wound thanks to Hermione,

"Give me my wand." he ordered, Hermione managed to grab her own wand and quickly yell,

"_Impedimenta_!" he tripped over and fell down the stairs, he was definitely unconscious now, and Hermione grabbed the other wand and saw that the man unconscious at the end of the hall was holding a camera, Hermione got up, both wands in hand, walked down the stairs, stepped on Hodge for good measure and made it to the elves.

Hermione aimed Hodge's wand at one of the house elves shock collars and said,

"_Alohomora_." the collar clicked and opened, all of the other elves' collars did the same, they were free and the cheered, they stopped working and the machines went still. Hermione snapped Hodge's wand on her knee and all of the house elves held hands as did the squad, Hermione touched a house elves shoulder,

"Where do you want us to go?" asked the elf,

"Ministry of Magic, the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures." Hermione told him,

"Okay dokay." said the elf and all of the beings in the room, human and elf, dissapparated to the Ministry, Hermione would consider her first mission a success.


	15. Chapter 15

**Helping the Homeless**

Hermione thought that her first mission had been quite a success, she had rescued the house elves, some of them had been given a job at Hogwarts as some of the older elves had retired now, others went back to the masters they had before Hodge elf-napped them, as long as they were good and treated the elves right.

Hermione walked into the Burrow with Ginny, congratulating her on another won Quidditch match, Bill, Fleur and Victoire were there, as was one year old Teddy Lupin as Molly was babysitting him for the day, he had been to the Quidditch match and quite enjoyed it. Victoire and Teddy were sat on the table, they turned to each other and looked into each others eyes, they crawled to be closer to one another and Teddy gently patted Victoire on the back.

Ginny's team was in the lead in the league and Ginny was very happy about it,

"So when are you two moving?" Hermione asked Ginny,

"Everything's packed now, we should be going at the end of the week." Ginny told her,

"Great, you and Harry must be excited." said Hermione,

"Yeah." Ginny said,

"So what are the prospects for winning the league?" Hermione asked,

"Very good actually," said Ginny, "We're in the led, just ahead of the Falmouth Falcons."

Hermione started the next day like any other, she got dressed, she got made up and went out the door, she gave Ron a kiss and dissapparated to the toilets that lead to the ministry. She walked up and was shocked to see the girl who was sitting beside the out of order toilets.

The girl was wearing a thick, green coat, a red, wooly hat, grey gloves and dirty, black hair, Hermione almost didn't recognise the girl, but she soon did, it was Katrina Walker. She was definitely homeless; all she had with her was a blanket and a rucksack, Hermione stared at her, she was so use to seeing her with shiny, gleaming, black hair and a perfectly made face with too much lipstick, but now her face was plain, her lips were dry and her hair was tangled and greasy.

Katrina turned her head and spotted Hermioine,

"You!" she exclaimed, looking quite scared,

"I see you've done well for yourself." said Hermione sarcastically, she almost felt sorry for her until she reminded herself how vile she was,

"Well what do expect, mudblood?" asked Katrina with a new level of hatred in her voice, "When you repeat your O.W.L year three times and then get expelled, your job aspects don't exactly look great, thanks for that by the way." she said snidely,

"What do you mean by that?" asked Hermione,

"_You_ got me expelled." she said,

"Oh please, you know as well as I do that you got yourself expelled." snapped Hermione,

"Well it was _you_ who went and tattled to McGonagall." retorted Katrina,

"You lured me out into the forest where I got attacked by a werewolf and you practiced the cruciartous curse on me." said Hermione, annoyed by the very accusation.

"Well, I see you _have_ done well for yourself, lucky." she scoffed,

"There's no luck to it," said Hermione, "It's because I worked hard, every damned day, to get where I am now, but you, no wonder you where on your third rotation of your fifth year if you think that the result of your future comes down to luck."

"What'd you take, Felix Felices?" she asked,

"Did you listen to a word I just said?" Hermione cried,

"No." Katrina said bluntly,

"What happened to your dreams anyway, I thought that you wanted to restate the Muggle-Born Registration Commission?" Hermione gloated,

"Yeas but I obviously didn't." snapped Katrina,

"Well if you need a job come and see me, I'm sure that you'd love helping house elves." said Hermione sarcastically,

"Oh, are you still on about those stupid things?" she asked,

"Things? _Things?_ From where I'm standing it seems like the only _thing_ in sight is you, they're a lot smarter too." said Hermione.

"How dare you?" Katrina looked insulted and pulled her wand from her coat. Hermione shook her head,

"You're just further proving my point, if you use that, here, with all of these muggles to see, you'll be spending your days in Azkaban, I shouldn't worry though, you'll probably end up in a better state than you are in now." Hermione teased,

"Doesn't mean that I can't still punch you in the face." said Katrina smiling,

"True," said Hermione, "But, have you ever heard of a little thing called _assault_?' asked Hermione mockingly,

"I thought that you had a job, why don't you go to it?" said Katrina crossly,

"Oh no, and I was so enjoying our little chat." said Hermione,

"Just leave please." she asked,

"Oh, begging, well, I'm sure you're used to that, here," Hermione pulled a Galleon from her pocket and tossed it to Katrina, she caught it and clung on to it, Hermione was about to leave but she stepped back and added, "Oh, and that's for food by the way, not to wipe the dirt off of your face, although, there is a lot." Hermione smiled and walked away.

She went into the toilet and flushed herself down, she was very happy with the way Katrina had turned out, it served her right, Hermione thought. she stepped out of the fireplace that she'd appeared in and caught the lift down to her office, she didn't go in, however, she went to the adjacent office that led to the house elf rescue squad, she went and talked to a witch,

"So, the mission went pretty well, huh?" asked Hermione, feeling proud,

"Well, some aspects." said the witch,

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked,

"Well, the aurors are currently trying to catch Clement Hodge, the only problem is, he's gone on the run, we've searched his mansion for clues, but…nothing." she said,

"And you have no idea where he is?" Hermione wondered,

"No, the only recent activity we have from him is an advert he put out." she said,

"He put out an advert, what, is he still making products on the run?" asked Hermione,

"It's not that kind of advert." said the witch,

"What kind was it?" said Hermione,

"An advert for an assassin." she said,

"Assassin? Can he still afford it?" Hermione asked,

"Yes, he has a vast fortune that he took with him, we have agents outside of Gringotts checking to see if he comes back to re-stock." she told her,

"Can you track where he is from the advert?"

"That's what they're trying." said the witch,

"Do we know who he wants to kill?" she wondered,

"No, but we're assuming one of us, the people who stole the secret to his fortune." said the witch, Hermione thought how, on the run, Hodge could kidnap more and more elves and make a whole new fortune,

"Well, I hop we catch him soon." said Hermione,

"So do we." said the witch.

Hermione had finished work for the day and was now going through the crowd on the main floor of the Ministry, she walked by the fountain and saw the Knuts and Sickles in the water, she looked up again and was greeted by something a lot more horrifying: Katrina's face. Katrina stood in front of Hermione,

"What are you doing here?" asked Hermione,

"I could ask you the same thing." said Katrina,

"No, no, no, you really couldn't, you see, I work here because I have something called, brace yourself, a _job_." gloated Hermione, "How did you get in here anyway?"

"Took the telephone box, whatever, the point is, I'm here for that job you offered me." Katrina said,

"What?" asked Hermione, shocked,

"You said I could ask you if I wanted a job." said Katrina,

"Yes, sarcastically." said Hermione,

"Hey, you owe me a job." said Katrina,

"I owe you nothing." said Hermione,

"You owe me at least this." Katrina shoved Hermione in the shoulder,

"Did you just _shove_ me?" asked Hermione,

"What are you going to do about it, bitch?" said Katrina who shoved her again,

"I-I'm going to show you what I'm going to do about it." said Hermione, she shoved Katrina's shoulder.

Katrina then slapped Hermione around the face, Hermione slapped her in retaliation, the Katrina grabbed Hermione's shoulders and Hermione grabbed Katrina's and they wrestled, Hermione slipped a little and the two of them fell into the fountain together, Katrina tried to climb out but Hermione wouldn't allow it,

"You don't get away that easy." Hermione grabbed her tangled, now wet hair and pulled her back in, Katrina was down but soon got up, she made a jump for Hermione and managed too get her, she clubbed her with her fists. Hermione head butted Katrina and Katrina fell next to Hermione thudded her head and the two of them rolled around on top of each other, punching, biting and scratching. Soon the two of them were pulled off of each other by two random wizards,

"Calm down ladies." one of them said,

"I'm not finished with her." said Katrina, splashing her feet, Hermione then noticed that the crowd was staring at them, Katrina noticed them also as she yelled, "Did you see that, everyone, she attacked me!" she pointed a finger at Hermione, "Hermione Granger attacked me! A poor, defenceless, homeless woman, I'm so weak."

"Oh drop the act!" yelled Hermione,

"Please, no more, I'm in so much pain!" cried Katrina, people gasped and pictures were taken of Hermione and Katrina being restrained, soaking wet, in the fountain, this could not end well.

Hermione's subscription to the _Daily Prophet_ arrived by owl the next morning. Hermione flitted through the pages, scanning through the articles until one specific story caught her eye, the headline read: _Granger Danger: A Homeless Basher._

Hermione continued to read the article: _Hermione Granger, 20, well known for falling off of the yacht) attacked a homeless woman, Katrina Walker, 19, in the fountain of the Ministry of Magic yesterday, people were shocked at this public display and Katrina Walker stated, "It was so scary, I just asked her for a job and she started hitting me, I begged her to stop but she refuse, she finally threw me into the fountain" we have on record that earlier that morning, Miss Granger referred to Miss walker as a 'thing'…_. The article went on and Hermione was insulted that people believed this drivel.

Soon after, another owl flew through the window and dropped a letter onto Hermione's lap. Hermione opened the envelope and read the letter,

_Dear Miss Granger,_

_ We regret to inform you that you are currently being sued by one, Katrina Walker on charges of unprovoked assault and battery for the total of ten thousand Galleons…_. That went on as well, this time Katrina had really taken it too far, Hermione was sure of one thing: this was not over…


	16. Chapter 16

**Let's Talk Business**

When Katrina had entered the courtroom, she had crutches in both arms and a limp that Hermione just knew was fake, if she was well enough to splash her feet around after she was restrained then she was certainly strong enough to walk into a courtroom, it didn't help that everyone '_awed_' her. Hermione was called up to be questioned by Judge Giselle, she started asking,

"Hermione, you are being charged with assault and battery on Katrina Walker, do you deny having assaulted her?" asked the judge,

"No." Hermione stated firmly,

"And this was an unprovoked action, was it not?" she asked,

"No, it wasn't." Hermione told her,

"Oh, and why is that?" the judge asked in a fake air of surprise and sophistication,

"She shoved me, twice," Hermione started, "so I shoved her back, she then slapped me in the face so I reciprocated, then she grabbed me and I slipped and we both fell into the fountain." Hermione explained,

"Yes," said the judge, "and whilst in the fountain you pulled her in by the hair when she tried to escape?"

"Yes but-"

"And earlier that morning you called Miss Walker a 'thing' and then threw something at her?" the judge looked sterner,

"Well, I gave her a Galleon I didn't throw somethi-" Hermione tried,

"So if she did assault you first I believe that that action would be provoked, assuming it's true, which I doubt, and you also viciously turned her down for a job in you're office?" this judge was really starting to annoy Hermione now.

"She started it!" Hermione found herself yelling,

"And what do you mean by that?" asked the judge,

"You must have it on file somewhere, the reason for her expulsion, she lured me into a forest where I was attacked _and_ she used the cruciartous curse on me, which I believe is illegal." Hermione explained,

"And how do I know you're not lying?" the judge asked,

"You can ask Professor McGonagall, she witnessed it." said Hermione,

"As you must know, these are two separate events and-" the judge tried,

"Before she attacked me she called me a 'bitch'." Hermione told her,

"Do not interrupt!" yelled the judge; Hermione could see Katrina smiling a little smug smile which made Hermione want to actually assault her.

By the end of the court date it wasn't looking good for Hermione and everything was looking great for Katrina who, whenever seen by Hermione, sent a shiver of hatred all over her body.

"You're going down mudblood, face it." whispered Katrina on their way out, then Hermione thought that she could charge Katrina with discrimination and prejudice.

It was then when Hermione noticed something that she hadn't noticed in the court room, Katrina's hair, it was now clean and straight, untangled and…clean. Hermione was willing to bet that her face was made up to; she had some money, but where was that coming from.

Hermione was at work the next day and noticed some strange things happening, first, the sword that hung on Kingsley's office wall fell as Hermione was under it and the blade narrowly avoided her head. Later she tripped into a fireplace that had big flames in it, luckily Hermione extinguished them in time, but it wasn't like a trip, it was more like she had been pushed. When she said goodbye to the annoying gossip who worked on a different floor, Mitzi Kolinsky, who was working late that night, she swore that a curse flew over her head. And when she was walking to a fireplace to go home, a telephone box lift suddenly dropped right in front of her at unusual speed, she was almost crushed to death, the last time these strange happenings had occurred was last year when Yaxley was trying to kill her, but he was in jail now, was this merely a series of unlikely events or was someone trying to kill her again, but who, a death eater?" Hermione didn't know, she decided to dismiss it and just go home.

The next day was just the same, first, a sharp ice cycle from outside the Ministry toilet entrance had nearly fallen onto her head, it was sharp too, it made a dent on the ground when it hit it. Then, when she got to her floor, she slipped over on a mysterious puddle and nearly banged her head on the door which felt unusually solid that day. Later a glass bottle fell from a shelf and smashed on the ground next to her and she swore that something flew past her head, again and again, when she was leaving work, Hermione no longer thought that this was a series of coincidences, it was getting more and more curious.

After the next court date, it still was not looking good for Hermione, after wondering how Katrina's been getting her Money, Hermione decided to follow her where she was going. Hermione put the disillusionment charm on herself which felt like a warm sensation trickling down her back, this made her practically invisible, it made it so that she blended in with her surroundings like a chameleon. Katrina took the lift from the courtroom up to the main floor of the Ministry as did Hermione, but unseen. Katrina then went into a fireplace and Hermione sneaked in behind her, Katrina grabbed a handful of floo powder, muttered some words and the two of them disappeared from the Ministry in a swirl of bright green flames.

They appeared in another fireplace in a place that Hermione didn't recognise, then Katrina dissapparated and Hermione swiftly put her hand on Katrina's shoulder, she went with her and appeared somewhere different. Katrina brushed her shoulder, not knowing what had touched it, she turned around but Hermione kept to the side, unnoticed, Katrina dismissed it and carried on.

They were on a cliff side now and Hermione followed Katrina as she walked up it, it went up in a spiral path that led to the tip of the mountain and on that tip was a fairly large, snow covered house, Katrina walked into it and Hermione followed her in, only just missing having the door slammed in her face, the house was nice but Hermione doubted it was Katrina's, then Hermione thought that maybe Katrina came there to rob the place. They entered another room, an office, by the looks of it, but what was even more shocking was the man sitting behind the desk, Clement Hodge.

"Did you kill the mudblood girl yet my little assassin?" asked Hodge,

"No, not yet, she keeps avoiding my traps." said Katrina, and that's when Hermione realised that it was Katrina who was trying to kill her over the last couple of days,

"Aw, never mind, you can try again tomorrow, com here." he said, Katrina walked over to him and started kissing him, Hodge then swept everything off of the desk and Katrina jumped onto it with Hodge and they continued to do things, Hermione quickly left the room and retched as Katrina was nineteen and Hodge must have been about fifty.

Hermione then thought to what that witch in the house elf rescue squad had said, that Hodge had hired an assassin: Katrina, although Hermione thought that what she was doing was more like she was Hodge's own little prostitute, after all, he was paying her, that's how she must have gotten her glamour back.

Hermione pondered the fancy, expensive looking living room and left herself alone with her thoughts about what to do, should she get Katrina arrested for attempted murder and harbouring a fugitive, should she sneak out unseen or face Katrina. She should tell the aurors where Hodge was, then again, she didn't know the location of where she was, it must have been Britain as Katrina was able to apparate there, then again, she first traveled by floo powder, Hermione could be anywhere in the world right now.

She paced the lushly decorated room for a while, about half an hour, and then she saw Katrina walk in, she didn't see Hermione as she was still under the disillusionment charm. She came in with Hodge, giggling, he went upstairs to take a shower and Hermione was alone with Katrina, as a snap decision, Hermione took off the charm and stood face to face with Katrina,

"What the hell are you doing here?" asked Katrina,

"I came to see where your new found fortune was coming from and now I know, you're a whore." said Hermione,

"How dare you, I'm an assassin, but you, you keep slipping through my fingers, and you said that you had no luck," said Katrina,

"I don't have anything; you're just a terrible assassin." Hermione scoffed,

"Then why has my Clemmy still paying me?" she asked,

"I can think of one or two reasons." said Hermione in a superior tone, Katrina stared at Hermione with such anger in her eyes, Hermione saw that her hair was once again sleek and shiny, her face was made up and too much lipstick was on her mouth (and some on Hodge's now). "So tell me," Hermione continued, "How did you get the job?"

"Well," said Katrina, not passing up an opportunity to brag, "I answered the advert because I needed some cash, he showed me the pictures of the girl I was to kill, and when I saw them I knew that this was meant to be." Hermione wondered for a moment where Hodge got pictures of her, then she remembered the flash that came with the second man to come down to the basement that night and when she saw him unconscious at the end of the hall, he had a camera in his hands, he had taken her picture.

"Well, I must say, I hardly think it was meant to be, after all, your murder attempts have been less than futile." said Hermione,

"Enough talk." said Katrina, "_Reducto_." she said, pointing her wand upwards, the chandelier fell from the ceiling, Hermione quickly stepped out of the way before it crashed to the ground, it landed exactly where Hermione had just been standing. Katrina screamed as Hermione was unscathed, "_Avada Kedavra_!" yelled Katrina,

"_Stupefy_!" Hermione came back with, for a second, the spells hooked but soon Katrina's green flash dissolved into Hermione's red one and Hermione's curse hit her and she flew backwards,

"_Crucio_." said Katrina and this spell hit Hermione and the pain of having millions of knives stabbing you filled every inch of her body, she barely contained a scream within her, Katrina's foot slid back a little and it knocked over the potted plant which fell onto her, causing her to lose her concentration, the spell stopped and Hermione stood up.

"_Expecto Patronum_." said Hermione after thinking about Ron, a silver otter emerged from her wand and went out of the window; Katrina looked confused at the point of Hermione's actions as she didn't know that Hermione had just sent a message to the Ministry and they would be able to track where the otter had been conjured.

"_Incendio!_" yelled Katrina and a jet of fire came from Katrina's wand, but, as she was not a very skilled witch, it quickly extinguished itself before moving forward two feet.

The two of them continued to fire spells in the other's direction until, finally, six aurors arrived, on the scene, Hodge came running down the stairs in nothing but a towel, disturbed by all of the ruckus, he saw the aurors and grabbed Katrina, the two of them dissapparated.

After the aurors proved that Katrina had attempted murder, all charges against Hermione were dropped and the _Daily Prophet_ cleared her name, unfortunately, they had not a clue where Katrina and Hodge went, they could be anywhere by now.


	17. Chapter 17

**Questioning**

Valentine's Day soon came along and Hermione was getting ready for work,

"Are you excited for tonight?' asked Ron,

"Tonight, what's tonight?" asked Hermione,

"Don't tell me you've forgotten," he said, "Our Valentine's date."

"No I haven't forgotten," she said, "I'm just messing with you, what have you got planned?"

"If I tell you that then it wouldn't be a surprise now would it?" he said,

"I'd still enjoy it." she pointed out.

"True. True. But no." he said firmly,

"All right." she gave in, "have a good day." she said,

"You too." he replied, they kissed and walked out the door, letting go of each others' hands, they dissapparated.

Hermione did the usual; she arrived at the Ministry, went to the lift and went down to the second floor where she worked and walked into her office into her office and met Rita,

"Ah, Miss, I have to warn you about something." she said,

"What is it?" asked Hermione, two men entered her office; they wore black and looked quite tough,

"Have you been questioned yet?" they asked,

"Them." said Rita,

"Questioned, why do I need to be questioned?" Hermione wondered,

"Come with us Miss." said one of them,

"I'm not going anywhere until someone tells me what on Earth is going on!" Hermione said in a raised voice,

"Don't worry Miss, all personnel had to do it." said Rita,

"Do what?" asked Hermione angrily,

"Get questioned." said the other man.

"Yes, I know that part, thank you _very_ much." Hermione snapped sarcastically,

"Come on Miss." said the man and the two of them grabbed her arms and dragged her out of the office.

"I can do this myself thank you." she said, they let her arms go and she followed them, they took the lift the fourth floor, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

They led her to a room, it had a single table and a single chair, the only light was the desk lamp, Hermione had never seen one before, but she knew that this was an interrogation room,

"If you'd like to sit down Miss." said one of the men, Hermione sat on the single chair and the men stood on the other side if the table,

"Are you aware that some of the country's money has gone missing recently?" asked one of the men,

"No, no, I'm not aware of that, how much is 'some'?" asked Hermione,

"We'll ask the questions!" cried the man,

"Look, Miss Granger," said the other man, "We're not accusing you of anything, we just want to know if you know anything about the stolen money."

"I'm sorry, I really don't." said Hermione,

"Okay, we believe you." he said,

"Know we don't, we know you're lying and we have proof!" yelled the first man,

"Proof, what proof?" asked Hermione,

"Okay fine, we don't have anything, I was trying to trick you into confessing." he admitted,

"Miss Granger," said the other man, "Last time, do you know _anything_, anything at all about the stolen money, and, before you answer, just think, have you seen anyone acting suspiciously lately, out of character, a friend, a foe, anything?" asked the man desperately,

"I'm very sorry, but I don't know anything about it." said Hermione in complete honesty,

"You're sure?" he asked, Hermione nodded, "Okay."

Hermione was about to get up,

"Hold on, where do you think you're going missy?" asked the first man,

"To work." Hermione replied,

"Sit back down!" he ordered, Hermione did so,

"Is there more?" she asked,

"Is there more? Is there more? Of _course_ there's more!" he yelled,

"Look, Miss Granger," the first man spoke again, "Another recent issue has come up, do you know the whereabouts of Mitzi Kolinsky?"

"No, why, is she missing?" asked Hermione,

"Yes, she's been gone for over a week, we fear that something may have happened to her." he said,

"Really?" asked Hermione, he nodded, "And the money's been gone, how long?"

"We don't know exactly." he said,

"Did it ever occur to you that Mitzi may have ran away _with_ the money." Hermione suggested, the two men began talking in hushed tones but eventually came out with,

"You can go."

"Thank you." said Hermione.

That day, all anyone could talk about was the missing money and where Mitzi Kolinsky was, Hermione said to a few people that she thought that Mitzi had done a runner with the money and soon that theory was the top one along with she went to Pennsylvania to become a pop singer and she was eaten by a dragon.

Hermione came home after a stressful day,

"Did they interrogate you to?" asked Ron,

"They interrogated everyone," said Hermione, "The whole Ministry, what do you think happened to the money?"

"Well, the biggest theory is that Mitzi Kolinsky stole it, but I heard she was eaten by a dragon so how could she have?" Hermione rolled her eyes at him.

That night, Hermione had gotten ready for her date, a knock came at the door and she went to answer it, it was a man in a chauffeur's uniform,

"Madame," he said, "If you will?" Hermione followed him outside to the black limousine, he opened the door for her and she got in. it was fancy in there, she had access to champagne and nibbles. She was enjoying it, assuming that it was part of Ron's big surprise. The limousine drove on and Hermione was very excited, finally it came to a stop.

Hermione's door was opened by the driver and she elegantly stepped out, it was a cold night and Hermione wasn't exactly wearing layers, she had left her beaded bag at home. She stepped out and the limousine suddenly drove off. She was at a roadside, sitting on a bench, it was dark and the wind was blowing Hermione's dress wildly, she had to grab on to her thighs. Nothing else was there and it was quite a scary scene, why did the limo have to drive away? She was seriously starting to freak out when she heard the sound of wheels on pavement.

A carriage pulled over on the adjoining road, it was pulling itself, and sat in it was none other than Ron in a suit. He held out a hand which Hermione took and she pulled herself into the comfortable carriage with Ron,

"Sorry I was late." he said, "I took longer than I thought charming the carriage." he said, Hermione turned her back to him, angrily, he took off his jacket and slipped it around her shoulders, "There you go, you must be freezing."

"Yes, I was, maybe because I was left at a roadside for half an hour." snapped Hermione,

"I got you a present." he said, he handed her a long, thin box, Hermione took it and opened it and she immediately recognised it, it was her old wand, the wand that had been taken by the snatchers nearly two years before,

"How- Where, When did you-?" Hermione was speechless, she had loved this wand, her new wand was fine but it wasn't quite…the same, not as powerful, it didn't understand her as much,

"Well you see, when Bellatrix Lestrange died in the battle, this was the wand she was using, since you had hers at the time, the aurors found it, put it on file in Bellatrix's things and this week, when they opened the file, I saw this and recognised it." he said, Hermione still didn't speak, she just kissed Ron instead, "Oh yeah, and this." he handed her a bouquet of roses which Hermione accepted and the carriage reached it's destination, "Here we are." said Ron.

Hermione stepped out of the carriage into a section of woods, there where Chinese lanterns in the trees around it to light it up and a load of tables with people sitting at them, Ron led Hermione to the one in the centre, pulled her chair for her and handed her a menu.

"Wow." she said, "Did you do all of this?" she asked,

"Actually, no," said Ron, "I found this place but it already existed, it's called 'Vine Dining' I believe, but I did the limo and the carriage myself."

Hermione and Ron ordered and had a great night, Hermione was most happy about getting her old wand back, she put the one that she had been using in a draw with Bellatrix's' when she got home.

Hermione received her subscription to the _Daily Prophet_ a few days later, the front page headline was: _Mitzi Kolinsky Found._ Hermione continued to read the article that accompanied the headline:

_Mitzi Kolinsky, 46, was found dead yesterday. Her body was discovered buried in the woods by a goblin named Gallock and his niffler, he stated 'I was just looking for some buried treasure with the niffler and he suddenly started digging in the section of woods we were in, I was excited as I thought I had found some treasure, but as it turns out, he was attracted to the jewellery that Miss Kolinsky was wearing.'_

_There is now an investigation going around the ministry dedicated to discovering the murderer of Mitzi, 'The bruises around her neck suggests that she was strangled,' medical expert Ryan O'Brian was saying, 'Makes me wonder if this attack was indeed carried out by a witch or wizard as they would most likely have used the Avada Kedavra curse.' Experts are trying to find finger prints around the bruised neck but are so far unsuccessful, they're also trying to figure out when the murder occurred, they think that the most likely time of death was the day that she stopped showing up for work after 9th February…_

Hermione then thought back to the night of February the ninth, it was one of the days that Katrina had been trying to kill her, Hermione was talking to Mitzi when a curse flew past her head, that was the night she was murdered. Hermione weighed in her head whether or not she could have stopped it, Mitzi may have been very annoying but Hermione would never wish anyone dead. Hermione decided that she couldn't have done anything, Mitzi was working late that night, it probably happened long after Hermione had left, but who would want to kill her, and why?


	18. Chapter 18

**Wedding Planners**

Hermione had done next to no planning for her wedding and she knew this, she kept telling herself that she'd get around to it when she wasn't busy, but she never did, and the sixth of June seemed to be drawing closer and closer. That's why Hermione called a meeting of the bridesmaids; Ginny and Demelza (Who came down for the weekend) were standing in Hermione's living room,

"Okay maids, you all know why you're here, we have a wedding to plan." said Hermione,

"Mam, yes Mam!" said Demelza jokingly,

"This is not a joke!" cried Hermione and the two of them looked scared, "Okay, we all know our assignments, let's get cracking."

On the first two days they interviewed the bands, on the first day they sent out an advert which a surprising amount of people answered, on the second day they saw all styles, they were muggle so Ginny and Demelza didn't recognize any of their songs. Hermione decided on classical as she wanted everything to be fairly traditional but she also wanted the band to be able to play a fast, upbeat song when needed. They interviewed some terrible bands including a one man band who, yes, played several different instruments, but not well. Hermione didn't know what she wanted her first dance music to be, she finally decided on 'A Cauldron Full of Hot, Strong Love' by Celestina Warbeck, it was a jazzy tune which was fine for Hermione (it was the song that Hermione and Ron had sang together at the Christmas dance at Hogwarts the previous year), the muggle bands, however, didn't know the song but that was soon sorted, Hermione would just give them the sheet music and if they had the instruments, they could play it. After a day of some dreadful and some alright interviews, they finally settled on a band that had all of the right instruments and managed to play the song perfectly, they were called the Musical Witches which Hermione found ironic.

Demelza had to go back to school so it was just Hermione and Ginny; they spent the time before and after work perfecting a guest list. They invited Ron and Hermione's family and friends and ended up with a lot of guests. Hermione invited most of their old school friends (except for Lavender Brown) and by the end they had over one hundred guests. Ginny then started showing her samples for invitations; Hermione had to think about the flower patterns, the calligraphy and more. She wrote out a sample invitation that she would give to the person at the manufacturer of the invitations. She chose daisy's as her flower patterns and it forced her to choose the main courses at her dinner, chicken and salmon. Ginny got down all of the details and got the order, Hermione would have to pick them up the following day.

The next morning Hermione went down to collect the invitations, which looked just as Hermione had imagined them, and the envelopes that came with them. She quickly put it on the dining room table at her house and went to work. After work she met with Ginny and the two had to put the invitations into the envelopes and then seal the envelopes. They asked for Ron's help and he accepted.

"My tongue is numb." said Ginny, barely able to pronounce it,

"Power through." said Hermione, "You can do it." they continued to stuff the envelopes, lick them shut and write the addresses on them and once they had finished they all had to put ice bags on their tongues.

They spent the next afternoon working out a seating chart, they could fit six people around a table and they had to have just enough tables to seat everyone and leave room for the dance floor and the stage that the band would perform on, they of course had the long table at the front where the bride, the groom, the parents, the bridesmaids and the groomsmen would sit. Hermione had to pick out centerpieces to go on the tables; Ginny showed her lots of pictures of different flowers, all of which Hermione found nice and pretty, the two that caught her eye were the yellow tiger lilies and the white roses, Hermione decided that she would use the lilies as the centerpieces and the roses as the bouquet that she would walk down the isle with. Hermione made an order at the florist for the flowers to be delivered just before the wedding date so that they didn't die whilst Ginny made the finishing touches on the seating chart.

After work the next day, Hermione took her big box of invitations to the post box; she was there for quite a while as she had to post each one individually. The arm she had used the post the invites was exhausted. Hermione did no more planning that day, Ginny, however, carried on with her plans for the bridal shower and the hen party, Hermione had give her a list of things _not_ to include

Hermione went to the tailors with Harry and Ron the next day where they got measured out and Hermione had to preview and approve the suits that they chose, it was lucky that she did as some of the suits that they tried on were hideous,

"Aren't we wearing dress robes?" asked Harry,

"How do you think it would look to my muggle family if the groom shows up in a cloak?" Hermione pointed out to him,

"Fair point." said Harry. They eventually found good suits, black jackets, white shirts, Ron had a white waistcoat and a black tie and Harry had a black waistcoat and a white tie. Hermione thought that they looked good and she paid for the suits.

Demelza was back for the next two days, they went to go and try out caterers, Hermione had put out an advert the previous day. They tried many kinds of cuisine from all over the world. Hermione wanted something that went with her main courses and she ended up going with a buffet. She would mix and match different styles of food for people to try at there choosing. They found a catering company that did an around the world cuisine so Hermione hired them, Ginny and Demelza were certainly having a good time sampling the food. For dessert she chose a range of different puddings, most of them choclately, some were different and Hermione decided on a chocolate fountain, and luckily, this catering company did all of those things, Ginny and Demelza had even more fun sampling dessert.

The next day, Hermione had to choose one of the most important features of a wedding, the cake. She had a sample of each one that the bakery she found offered. She was with Ron who enjoyed the task of eating cake. Hermione tried many different kinds, some at the top of elegance and some that had odd things I them. Hermione just wanted something simple so she chose the sponge cake with butter cream icing and asked the baker to design an extravagant wedding cake by the date and he agreed, she showed him some designs that she had made with Ginny and Demelza that morning and he said that they all seemed doable. They chose one that had five layers, one directly on top of the other getting smaller as they led to the top, it had roses made of icing leading dawn the whole thing in a spiral shaped trail. Then Hermione had to chose the little people that would go on top of the wedding cake, she looked through a few until she actually found one where the groom was ginger and the bride had brown, curly hair, they looked almost exactly like Hermione and Ron so Hermione decided that they would be her cake toppers.

The day after, after Hermione had finished work, she interviewed photographers with Ginny and someone to film the wedding. Ginny was fascinated by the video camera as she had not seen one before. Hermione looked at a range of different cameras and video cameras and picked two at random as she didn't know anything about them, she was assigned a photographer and a videographer for the wedding by the company she was in, they seemed respectable enough so Hermione considered it a job well done.

Hermione went down to the hotel that she would be getting married in the next afternoon and found out that they provided a minister to perform the wedding. Hermione asked to see them all and her and Ginny interviewed them, they had one that spat when he talked, one that kept his eyes on Hermione's chest and some more, worse ones. They then found one that performed it well, had a strong, clear voice, kept his eyes up and his saliva in. Hermione booked him for the big day.

The next day, Hermione picked out her wedding china. She needed to chose a pattern and she went around to quite a few shops before finding one that she liked. She wanted something that matched the centerpieces, so it needed to be yellow, she eventually found one that had little yellow flowers all around it and random, yet elegant, swirly patterns.

She went back to the hotel the next afternoon to sort out decorations, they suggested an ice sculpture but Hermione thought that it would look tacky, and she already had the chocolate fountain. She sorted that out fairly quickly as they had very distinctive, decorations she adored, decorations she despised and should only ever decorate a fire as they burn.

The next afternoon, Hermione and Ron were registering for gifts. They were registered at a shop that had pretty much everything. Ron was having lots of fun with the pricing gun, aiming it at things he wanted and pretending to shoot, Hermione laughed and she picked out some things that she wanted. They put it all on a list for the guests to view and purchase gifts,

"One of the great perks of weddings." said Ron; "You get a table full of presents." he smiled.

Hermione kept on with the finishing touches over the next few days,

"It's getting closer now, you excited?" she asked Ron,

"Of course I am," he said, "I get to marry you." Hermione was touched by the sentiment and reciprocated with a kiss,

"Which one of these rings do you like?" she asked, she showed him three pictures of different wedding bands on them,

"They all look the same to me." said Ron,

"Well of course they do, you're a man, but they're actually…well, they're pretty much the same, but you still have to pick one." she said, she put them on the table,

"Okay," he said, he closed his eyes and pointed at random, "Those ones," he said, pointing at the middle ones,

"Okay, I'll tell the ring people." said Hermione,

"Now, who do you think should be the ring barer?" asked Hermione,

"Hmm, I don't know, Victoire?" he suggested,

"Too young." said Hermione, "Can't walk." she added,

"What about Teddy, he's learned to walk, he can scuttle and everything just put a pillow in his hands, plonk some rings on top and watch him go." said Ron, Hermione smiled,

"Okay," she said, "I'll ask Andromeda tomorrow."

"What about the flower girl?" asked Ron,

"I've asked my little cousin." said Hermione, "She's like me in the brain department so she should be more than capable of throwing some petals down an isle, she's quite cute too."

"Anything else you need my help on?" asked Ron,

"No, I don't think so." said Hermione,

"Okay, then I'm off top bed." said Ron,

"And I'm coming with you." said Hermione, as they walked up the stairs together Hermione knew that she was doing the right thing by marrying him, deep down, he was her perfect man.


	19. Chapter 19

**The Lessons**

Hermione sat on her bed, staring at the broomstick leant up against the wardrobe that she had gotten for Christmas from Demelza,

"Are you ever going to actually ride that thing?" asked Ron who had just entered the room,

"I can't, I know how, the basics, I'm just awful at riding a broom, I can do it, I did it when the room of requirement caught fire, but I have no use for it really." said Hermione,

"What about for Quidditch?" suggested Ron,

"I'm terrible at Quidditch." said Hermione,

"So was I until I was trained." said Ron, "I can train you." he said,

"I'm not sure about that." said Hermione,

"I insist." said Ron,

"Oh, alright, fine, you can train me." Hermione gave in,

"Great, let me look at that," he grabbed the broom she had gotten, "Hmm, good, a Cleansweep, a good make, yep, this should be fit enough." said Ron, Hermione laughed, "Let me just go and get my broom." said Ron,

"What, now?" she asked,

"Yes now, we have a massive field out there, we might as well use it for something." he said.

Hermione was out in the field on her broom and Ron was on his,

"Okay, now I just want you to give a little kick off of the ground and hover." said Ron who did the action himself. Hermione did as he said, this part was quite easy, she kicked her feet off of the ground, went a few feet into the air but didn't come back down, and she hovered,

"Okay, check." said Hermione,

"Right, and now, aim the handle of your broom upwards and lean back a little to go up." he said, he once again performed the action and Hermione followed in his footsteps. She slid the grip that she had on the handle of the broom forwards and tilted it upwards; she leant back and slowly went upwards,

"Yes, got it." she said, she came to the same level in the air as Ron and hovered,

"Okay, now going down is very similar but the most important thing to do is pull up, you face the handle downwards and lean forwards and before you hit the ground, you lift up the handle and sit straight." he said, he, again, performed the move. Hermione leant forwards and tilted the handle of her broom downwards and slowly descended, she was heady for the ground and she stiffly pulled the handle up and sat straight, she returned to a hover beside Ron, "You're doing great so far." he said,

"Thanks." said Hermione,

"Okay, now speeding forwards is quite easy, you have to lean forwards, put your legs back and shift your body weight in front of you, like this," he demonstrated. Hermione shifted her body weight forwards, leaned and put her legs back, she zoomed forward and when Ron became closer, she went back into a hover.

"Okay, now for turning, all you have to do is put your body weight to the side you don't want to turn and push against your handle in the opposite direction, like so." he turned on his broom. Hermione put her body weight onto her left side, she pushed the handle right and she turned right in a one hundred and eighty degree angle. "Well done." he applauded, "most people fall off their first time."

"Like you?' she asked,

"Yeah." he admitted, "Okay, I think that's enough for today," he said, "Now, dismounting is easy, you just have to-" Hermione had done it before he finished, "-is that." he added.

They went back into the house and sat on the sofa together,

"Speaking of lessons," said Hermione, "I've signed up for driving lessons, I got my provisional and everything."

"Drive, why drive when you can apparate?" he asked,

"Why fly a broom when you can apparate?" Hermione came back with,

"Well, when they invent a sport called car-ball, let me know." he said,

"I've already bought one." said Hermione,

"What?" he asked,

"I got a really good deal on it actually." said Hermione,

"Fine," he said,

"Oh yes, and I've signed us both up for dance lessons." she told him,

"What?" he asked,

"Dance lessons, the two of us." she said,

"Why do we need dance lessons?" he asked,

"So that we don't look like idiots for our first dance." she said,

"Who said we don't want to look like idiots?" he asked,

"Me." she said, "And that's enough."

"Don't I get a say?" he said,

"Look, now that we're getting married, you don't get to win anymore." she told him,

"Really?" he said,

"How much did you ever really win before?" she asked,

"True." he said.

The next day Hermione went on her first driving lesson, she had read up on it of course, but she had never been behind the wheel. She controlled the car well, she didn't crash which was a good sign, she kept on the correct side of the road, the instructor seemed generally impressed, and he kept reassuring her. She followed the roads practically perfectly and was told that she could soon move onto the test after a couple more lessons.

When she got home, Ron wasn't in the house, she looked outside and found him in the field, and it was no longer empty, he had set up a whole assault course,

"Are you ready for your next flying lesson?" he called from his broom,

"Let me just go and get my broom." she smiled.

Hermione had her broom, mounted it and was ready to start; Ron hovered over to her,

"Okay," he said, "Now just apply all of your training from yesterday into flight." he said, "Ready? Set? Go!" he yelled and Hermione went. She started off by going in and out of poles; she shifted her weight to one side and pushed the handle in the other direction every time she turned through them. Then there was a large hoop floating in the air, Hermione supposed that she was meant to fly through it. She leaned back and pointed her handle upwards, she soared upwards and went through the hoop, then she pointed he handle downwards and leaned forwards, she soared back down and pulled the handle up and sat straight. Next was a floating tunnel, Hermione raised herself to it's level, put her legs back, leaned forwards and put her body weight in front of her, she zoomed forwards through the tunnel, it was great, the wind went through her hair and she came out the other side. next there were bars on all different levels, the first was down so she leaned forwards and tilted her handle down and flew under it, she pulled up and went into a soar upwards straight away, she went up and down and up and down, above and below the bars. She flew over the last of them and came to a hovering gate that kept opening and closing, Hermione hovered, put her legs back, leaned forward a little and timed it out, she put her whole body weight forwards and zoomed through the gate, it closed as soon as she passed through it. Next there was a scarecrow on a broom blocking her path, she grabbed the bat and the bludger that were floating beside her, she hit the bludger with the bat and it completely missed, another appeared next to her, she grabbed it and missed it with the bat so it dropped beneath her, it came back, she just threw it, it missed again, she was frustrated so she just got her wand and yelled,

"_Reducto_!" the scarecrow exploded and Hermione flew passed it, she wasn't good at the Quidditch positions, she flew back down to Ron,

"Brilliant, you were, brilliant, except for the poor scarecrow." said Ron,

"He deserved it." said Hermione,

"I'm sure he did." Ron agreed,

"Does that conclude today then?" she asked,

"Yes, next time, positions on the pitch." he said.

"Great." Hermione scoffed.

The next day they went to their first dance lesson, Hermione was an alright dancer, she had won the competition with Ginny at the Halloween dance over a year ago, Ron on the other hand was bad, very bad. He kept treading on Hermione's feet, twirling her off so the she hit the wall and smacked her face and tripping under Hermione causing her to go flying across the room,

"You see, this is why we need the lessons." she said after walking back to him from the other side of the room. The instructor came to help him and by the end of the lesson, he started to get the hang of it but he _definitely_ needed more lessons, a lot more.

Hermione went to her second driving lesson afterwards and did even better than in her first lesson now that she was growing more comfortable behind the wheel. She turned every corner well and kept straight on the roads, she had another good lesson.

After work the next day, Hermione and Ron went for another Quidditch lesson,

"Okay, now, Keeper is one of the easiest positions but it's also one of the most crucial, we'll start off by exercising your catching skills. He threw a ball to Hermione and she caught it, she threw it back to him, they did this repeatedly, Ron getting further back each time, soon enough he was at the other end of the field, he threw it and Hermione still caught it, she hadn't dropped it once, this technique had proven effective. Ron hovered over to her,

"Great, now on to goal keeping, I'm going to throw this ball at you and you have to deflect it, make sure that it doesn't go behind you." Ron threw the ball and Hermione stuck out an arm, she hit the ball with her hand. He threw it again and she punched the ball. He threw it a little lower and she managed to kick it. He threw it many more times and only a couple went behind her, "Great, I think you have keeping down, now onto chasing." he said.

Ron set up a target and gave Hermione the ball, she had to throw the ball and hit the target, she threw the ball and hit it and when she did, the target shrank a little, she hit it again and it shrank a little more, and again, and again and again. Soon it was no bigger than a coin; Hermione missed it the last few times,

"Its okay, the hoop is much bigger, I didn't expect it to get _that_ small." he said, he tapped it with his wand and it grew to its original size. Ron then set up the poles that she had used in the assault course. Hermione weaved in and out of them and threw the ball, it hit the target. Ron waved his wand and the poles went from vertical to horizontal. Hermione weaved over and under them and threw the ball at the target, she hit it again. She repeated these actions a few times until the target was once again the size of a coin. "Great." said Ron, "You were great at that, now onto beating." Hermione grunted.

Ron gave Hermione a bat and used the same target as before except this time she had to beat the ball at the target, Hermione failed at even getting the ball to leave her side, as soon as she was about to blow the target up out of frustration, Ron touched her shoulder, he held her arms,

"Now, what you have to do is drop the ball and hit it from underneath." he said whilst controlling her actions, she hit the ball and it hit the target, she did it on her own now, she dropped the ball, hit it from underneath and it hit the target. next she had be higher in the air as Ron sent up some flying scarecrows. Hermione sat on her broom and hit the ball, it hit one of the scarecrows and he fell, soon she had hit all but one. She aimed the ball at it and missed it, she had another go and missed, it was quicker than the others, Hermione got her position ready and pointed behind the scarecrow, it turned around and Hermione hit it from behind. She flew down and dismounted her broom.

"How was I?" she asked,

"Amazing." Ron answered her,

"So, what next, seeking?" she asked,

"No, no, no, _I_ can't even do seeking, you'd have to ask Harry or Ginny, your training is complete." the two of them smiled at each other.


	20. Chapter 20

**WANTED**

Hermione was in a meeting for the future of house elves, she and Rita were there, as were the house elf rescue squad, some higher up people in the department and the head, Mr. Sadderick.

"So, we should make a list, all of the laws you want to pass and abolish." said Mr. Sadderick,

"Okay," said Hermione, "Well, I want to make it compulsory for them to get paid."

"Great, put it down." said a Ministry higher,

"I'll do that Miss." said Rita, taking the quill and parchment and scribbling down words,

"Thanks, um, I want them to get compulsory time off, certain amount of holidays and weekends in a year, time off when they're sick." said Hermione, Rita wrote it down,

"We want to make house elf abuse and abandonment made illegal." said a wizard from the rescue squad.

"Yes, that." said Hermione, Rita scribbled down more words. By the end they had produced a full list.

"You understand of course that to get all of these laws passed, it will take a long while, a manner of years?" said a Ministry higher,

"Yes." Hermione nodded,

"Okay." she said,

"Right," said Mr. Sadderick, "I think that the best approach to this is to pass each law one at a time, don't do too much too fast." Hermione thought that this sounded reasonable,

"So it's your call, which do you want passed or abolished first?" asked another Ministry higher. Hermione thought about this logically, she thought that having to pay for house elves would lead to more abandonment so she would probably have to pass the anti-abuse and abandonment law first. She thought that not having elves work would raise anger in masters which would cause more beatings, she came out with,

"I want to make it illegal for them to be abused and abandoned."

"Fair enough." said Mr. Sadderick, "I'll start the paperwork but this won't be as simple as last time."

"What do you mean?" asked Hermione,

"Well," said Mr. Sadderick, "Last time you abolished the law by getting the support of a certain amount of Ministry officials, this time you'll have to put it to a public vote."

"And how do I gain the public vote?" wondered Hermione,

"Well, you have a lot of it, the story of Kreacher has spread a long way." said a witch on the rescue squad who, Hermione realised, believed the fake story that she had given to Kreacher.

Hermione walked out of the meeting and down the halls, it was lunch time, so she made her way to the lift. She got in and waited for it to move. It went backwards and then downwards and then forwards and she heard the voice say,

"Floor two, Department of Magical Law Enforcement." Hermione stepped out of the lift and continued through the hall. She saw into some rooms, she looked into one room and saw that it was the investigation of who murdered Mitzi Kolinsky. She walked to another and heard two words,

"Katrina Walker…" Hermione walked in and found a random wizard,

"Hey, so, um, how's it going?" asked Hermione,

"What the search, oh, you're the girl who she fought in the fountain, the girl who fell off the yacht." said the witch,

"Yes, that's me." said Hermione, "So, the search?"

"Still no word on where she is, is our suspicion that she's with Clement Hodge but we can't be sure." said the witch,

"Well, they most likely are, they _are_ sleeping together." said Hermione,

"Wait, what, really?" asked the witch,

"Well, yeah, did I not mention that?" asked Hermione,

"No, that's a crucial piece of information." said the witch, "Guys!" she went over to some other aurors, "I have some news!" she said, Hermione looked over at the table and picked up two sheets of parchment, the first had a picture of Hodge on it:

_WANTED_

_Name: Clement Hodge_

_Age: fifty four_

_Height: 6"1_

_Eye colour: brown_

_Hair colour: Brown, Greying_

_Crime: harbouring illegal house elves_

_Reward: 750 Galleons_

Hermione looked at the piece of parchment underneath it, it had a picture of Katrina on it, Hermione read what was underneath the picture:

_WANTED_

_Name: Katrina Walker_

_Age: nineteen_

_Height: 5"8_

_Eye colour: blue_

_Hair colour: Jet black_

_Crime: false claims for assault, attempted murder, harbouring a fugitive_

_Reward: 900 Galleons_

Hermione put down the two posters on a stack of many identical copies and left the room, she went to go and have lunch with Ron and Harry.

After her day at work, Hermione went on down to the Quidditch pitch with Ron,

"So who's she playing now?" asked Hermione,

Puddlemere United." said Ron,

"Right." she said, they entered the Quidditch stadium and gave in their free tickets from Ginny, Hermione walked through the small, hallway-like section that led to the pitch, and along the walls of it were '_WANTED_' posters, Hermione gave a glance at the people on them, Katrina and Hodge.

Hermione and Ron found a place in the stands and met up with Harry, the three of them watched as the game began,

"LET'S WELCOME ONTO THE PITCH…PUDDLEMERE UNITED!" said the booming voice and seven people flew onto the pitch as their anthem played in the background, _Beat Back That Those Bludgers Boys, and Chuck That Quaffle Here._ "AND, KNOCK ON WOOD, ON THEIR WINNING STREAK, THE HOLYHEAD HARPIES!" Ginny's team flew onto the pitch and leprechauns danced in the crowd.

"AND STRAIGHT AWAY, WILDA GRIFFITHS STEALS THE QUAFFLE, SHE GOES FOR THE HOOP AND SCORES, TEN POINTS TO PUDDLEMERE UNITED, DON'T GLOAT TOO MUCH GRIFFITHS, OOH, THAT HAD TO HURT, NICE BLUDGER FROM GWENOG JONES, ANGELINA JOHNSON STEALS THE QUAFFLE, SHE SHOOTS, AND, NICE CATCH THERE FROM PUDDLEMERE KEEPER, CARLOS PEREZ, HE THROWS IT, AND, NICE CATCH BY GINNY WEASLEY, SHE GOES FOR THE HOOP AND PASSES, VALMAI MORGAN CATCHES IT AND, BLUDGER FROM NEIL MACKLACHLAN, MORGAN'S DROPPED THE QUAFFLE, AND, NICE CATCH BY DOUGLAS STRUPMAN, HE'S HEADING FOR THE HOOPS, DORABELLA RICOLLETI TRIES TO CATCH IT, BUT, NO, THE QUAFFLE GOES IN, TWENTY POINTS TO PUDDLEMERE, GINNY WEASLEY HAS THE QUAFFLE AND SHE SPEEDA ACROSS THE PITCH, SHE'S PERSUED BY WILDA GRIFFITHS AND, OUCH, NOT LOOKING GOOD FOR GRIFFITHS, GOOD ARM FROM ROCHELE APPLEWHITE, GINNY WEASLEY GOES FOR A SHOOT, BUT, OH, DECIDES NOT TO, SHE PASSES TO ANGELINA JOHNSON, SHE THROWS, AND, SHE MISSES, THE QUAFFLE KICKED OFF OF COURSE BY CARLOS PEREZ, WHO HURLS IT ACROSS THE PITCH AND IT'S CAUGHT BY MICK WEST, HE GOES FOR THE HOOP, AND, NICE SAVE BY RICOLLETI, BUT, WEST HAS THE QUAFFLE, AND, OUCH, SKIMS RICOLLETI'S HEAD AS IT GOES THROUGH THE HOOP, THIRTY POINTS TO PUDDLEMERE UNITED, VALMAI MORGAN GET'S THE QUAFFLE, ZOOMS ACROISS THE PITCH, SHE PASSES TO GINNY WEASLEY, SHE CONTINUES, MISSES ONE BLUDGER, MISSES ANOTHER BLUDGER, SHE'S TAKING NO BUSINESS TODAY AND…SHE SCORES, TEN POINTS TO THE HOLYHEAD HARPIES!"

After many hours and many points later, Hermione was half asleep; it seemed that Ginny had finally met her match,

"RICK MANSON PERSUES THE SNITCH BUT MARIANNA ROMAIN SOON PERSUES HIM IN A TRAIL, ANGELINA JOHNSON SCORES MAKING IT ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY TO THE HOLYHEAD HARPIES AND THREE HUNDRED AND TEN TO PUDDLEMERE UNITED, APPLEWHITE FIRES A BLUDGER FOR MANSON, THAT, OOH, MISSES, BUT WAIT, GWENOG JONES FIRES AND, YES, MANSON IS OFF HOS BROOM, LEAVING A CLEAR PATH FOR ROMAIN AND, SHE CAUGHT THE SNITCH PUTTING THE HARPIES ON THREE HUNDRED AND TEN, AND PUDDLEMERE ON THREE HUNDRED AND TEN…HANG ON…WE HAVE A TIE!" The crowd looked confused but cheered anyway as everyone's team had won, but they had also lost.

As no-one could really take a victory lap; both teams flew off of the pitch, Hermione walked out of the pitch with Ron and Harry, she walked through the hall section and suddenly, everything went dark, something had blown on Hermione's face, she peeled off the piece of parchment and stared at Katrina's face, Hermione let out a scream and violently tore up the poster,

"Okay love, take it easy." said Ron,

"Sorry," said Hermione, "It just really annoys me." she said. They walked out of the pitch and waited, Ginny soon emerged in her casual clothes and ran up to them, she hugged and kissed Harry and turned to talk to them,

"Hey guys, does a tie break our winning streak or does it still technically count as a win?" wondered Ginny,

"I think it counts as a win." said Hermione,

"Really?" asked Ginny,

"No." said Ron,

"I think it does." said Harry,

"Yeah, but, she did win, but, she also lost, so, does the half lose break the streak or does the half win continue it?" asked Ron,

"I think it continues, I'm not sure." said Hermione,

"Me neither." said Harry,

"If only Marianna had waited for one more score to catch the snitch then we wouldn't be in this confusion." said Ginny,

"True that." said Ron,

"So what are your prospects for the final?' asked Harry as the four of them walked and talked at the same time,

"Quite good, but so do Puddlemere United and the Falmouth Falcons." said Ginny,

"Oh yeah, I hear that the Falcons have done really well this year." said Ron, the three babbled about Quidditch and Hermione didn't know what they were talking about, the only games she watched were Ginny's, but she still nodded along, pretending to understand.


	21. Chapter 21

**The Test**

Hermione and Ron continued with their dance lessons and they were actually improving. Their dance teacher said that they had made excellent progress, Hermione was just happy that she and Ron wouldn't look like idiots when they took their first dance.

Hermione also continued with her driving lessons and her driving instructor said that she was doing really well and was ready for the test in a week. Hermione was well prepared; she had been doing well in lessons and reading up on driving. Whenever Mr. Weasley was over he seemed fascinated with Hermione's car as he was with all muggle-made objects.

Hermione was at number twelve Grimmauld Place, Harry and Ginny had finally moved in and Hermione and Ron were helping them unpack,

"So where do you want this?" asked Ron, holding a picture,

"Just put it there for now." said Harry, Ron did so,

"Oh, I just thought." said Ginny,

"What?" asked Hermione,

"We should have a party." said Ginny,

"A party?" asked Harry, "For what?"

"A housewarming party." Ginny said,

"When?" asked Ron,

"When we've finished unpacking." said Ginny,

"What, today?" asked Ron,

"No," said Ginny, "I mean when we're _done_ done, like tomorrow or the next day."

"Sounds good." said Hermione.

A couple of days later, Hermione again stood in Grimmauld Place but this time people were there, music was being played and food and drink was served, it was Harry and Ginny's housewarming party.

"Well, its going well so far isn't it?" Ginny asked Hermione,

"Yeah, yeah, and the place looks great." said Hermione,

"Thanks." said Ginny, "For the compliment and, you know, doing most of the decorating yourself."

"You're welcome." Hermione laughed.

Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves; the furniture had been pushed back in the living room to make way for dancers. The record that Ginny had bought in Hogsmeade in Dominic Maestro's was playing on the gramophone; Hermione recognised it as a record from the wizarding band, the Weird Sisters.

Ron cam up to Hermione in a fake posh swagger,

"Would you care for a dance?" he asked,

"Why certainly." said Hermione, maintaining the posh,

"Didn't they already do that at the wedding?' Ginny was saying to Harry, "You need to get some new material!" she called to the dance floor, Ron made a rude hand gesture at Ginny and quickly put it away as Mrs. Weasley was in the room, luckily she didn't see it. Hermione could tell that the dance lessons had paid off as Ron wasn't terrible, he wasn't particularly good, but. he didn't step on her toes and he no longer fling her off to different sections of the room, she could now complete a full spin, it wasn't the best of dancing but it was alright, Hermione noted that they would still need a few more lessons.

Hermione spoke as she danced with Ron,

"I'm taking my driving test in two days." she said,

"Good for you," said Ron, "I'm proud of you." he said,

"Thanks." said Hermione,

"I bet you'll do great." said Ron, "I bet you'll ace it." he added, "Like a test at Hogwarts."

"Thank you for the Quidditch lessons,' she said, "If I forgot to say, I really appreciated it."

"Ah, that, it's no problem." said Ron, "It was fun for me too."

"I think we need some more dance lessons though." she added,

"Really, but I'm a terrific dancer." he said sarcastically, Hermione laughed.

"You are quite good but I think we should perfect it." said Hermione,

"Fair enough," he said, "I want our wedding to be perfect for you." he said, "Of course, it already will be as long as you turn up." he said,

"Thank you." she said simply and gave him a peck on the cheek.

Hermione was later talking to Harry in the kitchen,

"So how's the search for Katrina and Hodge going?" she asked, thirsty for new about it,

"It's going okay, still no word on where they are, we have some aurors from all over the world looking out for them, we're waiting to hear back from them at the moment." he said,

"What about the murder of Mitzi Kolinsky?" asked Hermione,

"We still don't know, we know she was strangled which suggests that a muggle or a squibb, and we think that it's linked to the money going missing." said Harry,

"Well we can rule out Mitzi." said Hermione,

"Not necessarily." said Harry,

"But she's dead." said Hermione,

"She could have stolen it before she was murdered, maybe that's the murderers motive, of course, it could be the other way around." said Harry,

"What do you mean?" asked Hermione,

"Well, the person who stole the money could have been the person who killed Mitzi." said Harry,

"Sounds logical." said Hermione, "And you're sure that the two are connected?" Hermione asked him,

"Well we definitely don't think that the two events were just coincidences, it seems right that they're connected some how." said Harry,

"So are you trying to find the thief?" asked Hermione,

"That's a separate investigation, we've looked into it, whoever did it left nothing behind, and we're pretty sure that they've done this before, they're professionals." Harry told her,

"They, you mean, more than one person?' asked Hermione,

"We think so, no-one person could have done that, the countries money is in the largest and most protected vault in Gringotts, dragons, trolls, multiple vault doors, acromantulas, dementors, riddles, puzzles, boggarts, and more, the whole works, when we broke in there were four of us and one of us was a goblin, we barely got in or out alive, yes, we think it was more than one person." said Harry,

"Fair point," said Hermione.

"All of the creatures were fine afterwards, no damage done, that means that these people didn't even defeat them, they slipped right past them, nothing and no-one remembers anything that happened, we're thinking the Imperious Curse, on a massive scale." said Harry,

"Wow, they must be quite skilled to pull off an Imperious Curse like that." said Hermione,

"I know, that's what worries us, they could be right under our noses as we speak." said Harry.

Hermione stepped into the car next to the driving examiner, he was a stern looking man with a clipboard, Hermione got in, closed the door, put on her seat belt and put her key in the ignition and already he was scribbling his pen down on his clipboard, Hermione felt nervous but she knew that she could do it, she had done great in lessons, this shouldn't feel any different,

"Okay, now go onto the road and do it as I tell you." The examiner continued to bark directions that Hermione followed; she did them well as long as she kept her nerve, the examiner wrote more and more on his clipboard every time Hermione made a turn or parked or stopped or did anything he told her to do.

There were two cars parked on the curb leaving room for one other car,

"Park there." said the examiner, Hermione went between the two cars, drove forwards and reversed a little bit, she parked perfectly in the middle of them and the examiner wrote more on his clipboard, Hermione had actually made him smile and it looked like he hadn't smiled in so long that it hurt his face. "Very good," he said.

"Um, thank you." said Hermione,

"Now get out of it." he said, Hermione did so, it was difficult but all three cars came out untouched afterwards. Hermione continued driving going, straight, left, right, doing U-turns, parking in car parks, pulling over and more, the examiner still continued to scribble down on his clipboard and Hermione made him smile, now, multiple times. The test was soon over and Hermione had done everything asked of her perfectly, Ron was right, it was like a school test at Hogwarts.

A few days later, Hermione sat in front of a photographer, she was getting her picture taken for her brand new driver's licence, she had passed the test with flying colours, and she got full points. After her picture was taken, she gave her information and it had been printed, checked and laminated, Hermione received her driver's licence and she felt proud.

She stared at it and saw her name behind the plastic, she saw her basic information about her, her finger print, her signature and her photograph, it didn't come out bad, It came out looking like her, brown eyes and big, bushy, brown hair, she was quite happy with it.

Hermione thought that it would be more symbolic to drive there and back, she pulled up beside her house and saw Ron waiting there, she got out of the car and locked it,

"Did you get it?" asked Ron, Hermione whipped out her new licence and Ron looked at it,

"I'm pretty sure." she said,

"Yay, I'm so glad." he said,

"Me too." Hermione said,

"Well, now it's official, you're a driver." said Ron, "I'm proper impressed." he added,

"Aw, thanks." she said, she rewarded him with a quick kiss and slipped her new licence back into her pocket.

Over the next couple of weeks, Hermione and Ron continued with their dance lessons, Hermione was as good as ever, maybe a little better, and Ron had made excellent progress since the housewarming party. On their last lesson the two of them swept out the class and stole the floor, Hermione and Ron looked amazing together, so graceful, they contrasted well so that it looked more elegant and fit for a wedding. The rest of the class' jaws had dropped and they stared, fixated with the brilliant dancing that was going on in the room. Ron twirled Hermione magnificently and didn't step on her or physically harm her in any sort of way, not once. They ended with Hermione running up, diving over Ron and being caught in the torso, they froze in the position and the whole class, and the teacher, clapped for them, amazed by them, Ron lowered Hermione to the ground safely and kissed her, everyone in the class rushed up to them and congratulated the two of them.


	22. Chapter 22

**Pranksters Afoot**

Hermione and Ron continued to practice dancing and April came, April the first to be exact, Hermione thought back to the last April first when she had been led to the forbidden forest by Katrina who had used polyjuice potion to turn to Ginny, Hermione ended up being attacked by Fenrir Greyback, a werewolf who had been attacking the forest creatures, much to the upset of Hagrid.

Hermione left her house and went to the field behind it, she was shocked by what she saw, a small swamp sat in the middle of it.

"What the-?" asked Hermione,

"What are you doing there?" asked Ron who ran over, "Oh," he said, "What's happened?" he asked,

"I don't know, do you?' asked Hermione,

"I-wait a second, I know what this is." said Ron,

"What? What is it?" asked Hermione,

"It's a portable swamp." said Ron, "We sell them at the shop."

"Are you in there today?" asked Hermione,

"No, I'm in the auror office today." he said,

"Well, do you know how to get rid of it?" she asked,

"Yep, just a sec." he said, he waved his wand and soil rose to the ground where the swamp had been and the land was dry,

"Thanks," she said,

"Just be on the lookout today." sad iron,

"Will do." said Hermione, the two of them dissapparated.

Hermione got into work that morning and sat in her office with Rita,

"Good morning Miss." she said,

"Morning." Hermione replied, she sat down to some paperwork and began writing, as did Rita,

"Did you have a good one Miss?" asked Rita,

"A good what?" asked Hermione,

"A good morning." said Rita,

"Well, sort of." Hermione said,

"And why is that Miss?" asked Rita,

"Well, I found a swamp in my field." said Hermione,

"A swamp, how did that get there?" wondered Rita,

"A portable swamp, sold at Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes." said Hermione,

"Do you know who did it?" asked Rita,

"A have a few ideas." said Hermione,

"Who?" Rita wondered,

"The name George springs to mind, him and probably Lee, what do you expect, it _is _April fools day." said Hermione,

"I don't know who those people are Miss." said Rita,

"Oh, well George is my future brother in law and Lee is his friend, have you nit been to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes in Diagon Alley?" asked Hermione,

"Oh, yes, of course Miss, I just didn't know the names…that's all." said Rita,

"Okay," said Hermione,

"Miss?" said Rita,

"What is it?" asked Hermione,

"Do you hear ticking?" asked Rita,

"Ticking?" asked Hermione, Hermione listened closely and realised that she did hear ticking, it wasn't coming from the clock, it was different, Hermione looked under her chair and saw a small, black, horn like thing walking along, it was making the noise, at least, it was contributing,

"Oh no," said Hermione,

"What Miss?" asked Rita,

"You'll see." said Hermione, and then, they heard a noise like an explosion, the horn went off and clouds of black smoke came from it, it wasn't just the one either, they were all around the office, Rita was shocked, her and Hermione climbed onto their chairs and stood on them as the black clouds had filled the bottom half of the office, the noises were still being made, loudly,

"What the hell is going on in here?" asked a man who burst in to the two of them standing on chairs, black clouds filling the office and loud noises emerging from the floor,

"Nothing, this is completely regular." Hermione lied, "As you were." she said,

"Very well." said the man, he walked out of the door, The noises soon died down and the smoke cleared up, Hermione sat back down and got back to work,

"What were they?" asked Rita, who sat back down,

"Decoy detonators." said Hermione, "Guess where they're sold."

"Where?" asked Rita,

"Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes." said Hermione.

After completing some work, Hermione went down to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to eat with Harry, Ron and Neville, they were eating and chatting happily when everything went suddenly black,

"What?" asked Harry,

"Peruvian instant darkness powder." said Ron,

"Of course," said Hermione, the room was still pitch black, Hermione thought she heard another person in there but she dismissed it, the blackness cleared up.

"Has anyone else noticed these things happening today?" asked Ron,

"Yep," said Hermione, "Decoy detonators in my office." said Hermione,

"Somebody released some fanged frisbees in mine." said Harry,

"And you Ron?" asked Hermione,

"Dung bombs in _my_ office." he said,

"Ooh, bad." said Harry,

"What about you Neville?" asked Ron,

"Nothing, I guess I've just been lucky." said Neville before biting into a biscuit,

"I'm pretty sure it's George." said Ron, Harry and Hermione nodded in agreement but were soon distracted by a burst of yellow feathers,

"Not again." said Neville, soon he was covered in yellow feathers, the biscuit he had eaten had been a canary cream.

"Lucky, huh?" said Harry, the effects wore off after a few minutes and Neville was back to normal,

"Why is it always me?" he asked, the others laughed and he joined in,

"Ron, you were saying?" said Harry,

"Um, yeah, well, George takes April fools day very seriously, to him it's better than Christmas," said Ron, "No doubt that Lee's helping him."

"I knew I heard someone in the room, one of them must have switched the biscuit for a canary cream when it was dark." said Hermione.

Hermione went back to the office where Rita was sitting and at Hermione's end of the desk, a black top hat sat on it,

"Um, Rita?" said Hermione,

"Yes Miss?" asked Rita,

"Why is there a hat on my desk?" she asked,

"Oh, that, it was there when I got here, I assume someone left it for you." said Rita, Hermione sat down and looked at the top hat, she picked it up and put it on her head, it seemed safe, Rita looked up at Hermione and gasped,

"What?' asked Hermione, "What is it?"

"Your head." said Rita, Hermione pulled a hand mirror from her desk draw and stared into it, the problem was, she didn't stare back. Her head was completely invisible, she took off the hat, her head returned, she put it on, it vanished again, she took it off and put it on the desk,

"Is that it?' asked Hermione, "Wasn't so bad." right then, the hat transfigured itself into a white rabbit, it hopped around the desk and messed everything up, Rita picked up the rabbit,

"Aw, it's kind of-" the rabbit turned back into a top hat, Hermione took the hat,

"Nothing else in there is there?" asked Hermione, she looked into the top hat and suddenly, a boxing glove on a spring popped out and very nearly punched Hermione in the nose,

"Are you alright Miss?" asked Rita,

"Yes." said Hermione, "_Reducto_." she said and the hat exploded, "Much better." she said and she continued with her work.

After work, Hermione, Ron, Harry, Neville and Ginny went to confront George in Diagon Alley,

"Ginny?" asked Ron, "Why are_ you_ here?"

"I was in practice today, when I got changed, they took my clothes and left a leprechaun outfit in their place, it was humiliating." said Ginny,

"What else did they hit you guys with?' asked Neville,

"Top hat," said Hermione, "First I had an invisible head, then it turned to a rabbit and back and then nearly punched me." said Hermione,

"Rough, they gave me extra strong U-No-Poo, I spent moist of the afternoon in the bathroom."

"Bad," said Harry, "I got a load of aviatomobiles released in my office, those cars messed up everything and they set the fanged frisbees on edge."

"And you Neville?" asked Hermione,

"I got slipped a ton-tongue toffee." said Neville,

"Ouch." said Ron,

"Yeah," Neville agreed.

The five of them appeared in Diagon Alley and saw Weasleys' wizard wheezes, they entered the amazing shop with no smiles on their faces, George, Lee and Angelina stood there and all of them stared,

"So, you enjoy your day?" asked George,

"Not so much." said Ron,

"Really, why not?" asked Lee,

"You know why." said Hermione,

"How did you get into the Ministry anyway?" asked Harry

"Used the telephone box." said Lee,

"And how'd you get into my changing room,

"Said I was a family member come to watch you practice." said George,

"You have to admit that it was kind of funny." said Angelina who was there as she was on Ginny's team,

"Not for me." said Ginny,

"Don't worry, no more pranks." said Lee,

"Why should we believe you?" asked Neville,

"Because we're actually losing money on this." said George,

"We are?" asked Angelina,

"Well, it was all hilarious." said Lee,

"Okay, and it's stopped, now, for certain?" asked Ron,

"Cross my heart and hope to die." said George,

"Okay then." said Harry, they left.

Hermione and Ron went back home and into the field behind the house to make sure no swamps had appeared, none had,

"Right, okay then." said Ron,

"Wait a second." said Hermione, what's that?" she pointed to a box in the middle of the field,

"It looks like-" suddenly a firework emerged from the box and exploded in the evening sky, it went silent for a while, but then, a whole explosion of fireworks came out, they whizzed, zoomed and twirled into the sky in and explosion of fantastic colour. A shocking pink-wheel spun out and zoomed towards them, they moved out of the way just in time and it exploded in front of the house, rockets with long tails of silver stars came out and they lit a line of fire crackers, a rocket went off of course and a stream of stars flew between Ron and Hermione, more went off course and soon a giant, colourful dragon came out, made of fireworks, it roared and breathed more fire works that went up into the sky, it then exploded into bright sparks that flitted to the ground and the remaining fireworks exploded and spelled out: _thanks for watching folks._ they extinguished themselves, the box had gone and the field was silent, Hermione turned to Ron,

"They lied, didn't they?" she asked,

"Yeah, I'd say so." said Ron,

"Do you just want to go to bed in fear that something else might happen?" she asked,

"I do a little." he said,

"Come on, let's go." she said, and they walked into the house, being careful as they went.


	23. Chapter 23

**Being the Bunny**

After the arrival of April and some pranks that came along with it, Easter had soon arrived also. Hermione had bought chocolate eggs for all of her friends, she was at work and went up to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to give some files to Kingsley, when she went into his office he was talking and laughing with an old, chubby man with a red face,

"Ah, hello Miss Granger, have you met Mr. Grussells?" asked Kingsley,

"No, I don't believe that I have, hello Sir." she said, she shook his hand

"Granger is it?" he asked, "I've heard about you," he seemed very jolly as he talked, "You run the S.P.E.W office."

"Yes, yes I do Sir." Hermione replied,

"Now, I don't know if you know this, but every year I have an Easter gathering, in my house, and I'd love for you to come." he said,

"Oh, I don't know if I should." said Hermione,

"Nonsense, I insist, bring whoever you'd like, it's all mainly for the kids of course, what with the Easter egg hunt and all that." he said. Hermione thought back to her last Easter egg hunt, it did not end well, "Well, I say hunt, the guest I select to be the Easter bunny hands them out." he said,

"I suppose that I'll be there then." said Hermione,

"I've been to his parties, they are certainly enjoyable." said Kingsley,

"I'm sure they are." said Hermione,

"Oh," said Grussells,

"What?" asked Kingsley,

"I almost forgot to give Miss Granger the address, hang on," he said, he grabbed a quill and quickly scrawled an address down on a piece of parchment, he handed it to Hermione,

"Thank you." she said, taking the address and slipping it into her inside pocket, "Well, goodbye then." Hermione said, she put the files on Kingsley's desk and left the office,

"Goodbye Granger," Grussells called down the hall.

"Why do I have to go?" asked Ron during lunch after Hermione had just told him that she'd been invited, "He invited you, not me."

"Stop complaining." said Hermione, "We're going." said Hermione,

"It might be fun Ron," said Harry,

"Yeah, exactly." said Hermione,

"But what if I'm the guest he hires to be the Easter bunny?" asked Ron,

"What is the likelihood of that?" said Hermione,,

"Fine." said Ron.

"That's better." said Hermione.

"You get to eat chocolate." said Hermione,

"That makes it a little better." said Ron,

"And I heard from someone that he hides a golden egg every year and whoever finds it gets a check donated to the charity that the party supports in their name." said Harry,

"So you don't even get to keep the money?" asked Ron,

"No, it's a _charity_ event Ron." said Hermione, "You're not supposed to keep the money, you give it to _charity_."

"What is the charity anyway?" asked Ron,

"I hear that this year it's for S.P.E.W." said Harry,

"Really?" asked Hermione,

"Yeah, I assumed you knew." said Harry,

"No, this is great, it could really help with my campaign, that's why he wanted me there." said Hermione.

"Selfish house elves, keeping all of the money for themselves." Ron muttered.

A few days later, Hermione and Ron entered Grussells's estate house, it was massive, the inside was a giant entrance hall with two staircases on either side of the room that led to a platform that went all the way around the ceiling with doors to other parts of the house. It was decorated for Easter; there was a petting zoo that contained chicks, rabbit kittens and lambs. There were adults there, socializing and drinking, many children ran around with baskets filled with chocolate eggs. Hermione and Ron were both handed tickets with numbers on them at the entrance and they kept them in their pockets.

Hermione saw the stage set up between the staircases with a band performing on it, Hermione found an egg and handed it to a little girl who put it in her basket and ran away.

"See, this isn't so bad." Hermione said to Ron,

"No, its alright." he said, "I didn't know how loaded Grussells was." he said,

"Me neither." said Hermione,

"This means you'll get quite a lot donated to S.P.E.W." said Ron,

"Yeah it- hang on- did you just call it S.P.E.W?" asked Hermione, "Not spew?"

"Yeah, well, that is what it's called," said Ron

"Yes, it is." said Hermione surprised, "But yes, I should get more money." she was quite excited about that actually.

The two of them enjoyed the party, Hermione had a go at feeding the lamb, which was fun, all of the animals were adorable, Hermione also had fun with the rabbits and the tiny, yellow chicks, the hen that was in the pen with them was not so friendly though, she bit Hermione twice with her beak, on the hand. Ron also fed the lamb and the two of them decided to practice their dancing on the floor, they were getting very good now, people around them were dancing too,

"Yep," said Ron, "We're definitely ready for the wedding, the first dance."

"Yes, I'd say that we are." Hermione said.

Grussells stepped onto the stage and took the microphone, the music stopped and everybody stared at him,

"Thank you band, you've been great so far, now, can you all check your tickets, I'd like to invite number one hundred and three backstage." he said, everybody checked their tickets, including Hermione: _104_, hers said, she was very close,

"What did you get Ron?" she asked,

"One hundred and three." he said casually,

"Ron, you won!" she exclaimed,

"Wait, I have, yay, I've won!" he yelled, everybody heard,

"Come on up here son." said Grussells, Ron went up to the stage and went through the door that was next to it, Hermione wondered what was going on back there but was sure that everything was okay, she just carried on with the party.

The door to the backstage opened and a man in a fluffy, pink bunny suit walked out, except from then on he hopped, all that was revealed was the face and Hermione realised that it was Ron, she saw the Ginger tuft of hair that stuck out from the head of the suit that had tall, pink and white ears, he held a basket full of chocolate eggs. He hopped along, his bunny-painted face miserable, children chased him and he handed eggs out to them, he threw some of them and they skimmed the heads of small boys and girls. He hopped up to Hermione,

"'_What is the likelihood of that?'"_ he said in a bad imitation of Hermione's voice,

"I really didn't think that you'd be chosen." she said,

"Well I have and I look ridiculous." he said,

"No, you look…cute." she said,

"Cute? _Cute?_" he said,

"Sure." said Hermione, she couldn't hold down a giggle,

He hopped away, being chased by children and he continued to throw the eggs at them.

"Excuse me, Miss?" asked a small girl tugging at Hermione's dress, Hermione bent down to talk to her,

"Yes?" she asked,

"Do you know the Easter bunny?" she asked,

"Well of course I do." said Hermione,

"Wow." said the girl,

"Could you get me his autograph?" she asked,

"I'll see what I can do." said Hermione, "Easter bunny!" Hermione called,

"What?" called Ron,

"You are being summoned!" she said, he hopped over to them,

"What is it?" he asked,

"Um, Mr. Bunny, can I have your autograph?" she asked,

"Oh, well sure," he said, "I don't really have a quill," the girl handed him a piece of parchment and an inked quill, Ron wrote on it and gave it to her, she skipped off with it in glee,

"What did you write?" asked Hermione,

"Hello, stay in school, Easter Bunny." he recited,

"Stay in school?" asked Hermione,

"Yeah, well, it's a good message." said Ron,

"She's hardly going to get into drugs." said Hermione,

"You don't know that, look at her, she has the look of an addict." he said, Hermione smirked and hugged him, "Right now," he held up his basket, "I have to get back to work." he hopped off and Hermione laughed as he did so.

Hermione walked off and saw a twinkle in the potted plant, she walked over to it and rummaged through the leaves, she saw another twinkle and it came from the soil, Hermione looked around, making sure no-one was looking, and started digging through the soil with her hands, she hit a hard, golden surface, she plunged a hand in and pulled out a small, golden egg. She carried it and walked into the middle of the room,

"Oh, look, she has the golden egg!" yelled a witch in the crowd; Grussells came onto the stage,

"We have a founder of the golden egg, come on up to the stage!" he said, Hermione did so, she gave the egg to Grussells, two people behind him held a giant cheque, Grussells took it, gave it to Hermione and shook her hand, "Look to the front, this is for the _Daily Prophet_." he said, Hermione looked at the crowd and saw people with cameras, they flashed a few times, "Well done Miss Granger, a donation of fifty thousand galleons has been made in your name to S.P.E.W." said Grussells.

Hermione was very happy, she had much more than enough funding now, she could run her campaign as she wanted and get her law passed. She stepped off of the stage and people clapped for her. She found the pink bunny suit in the crowd and Ron turned around to her and hugged her,

"Where did you find the golden egg?" he asked,

"Found it in the plant." said Hermione,

"Well this is so great." he said,

"I know it is." said Hermione.

The two continued the party until it was time to go home, as everyone else was leaving, Ron could finally take off his bunny costume, which he was very happy about, and they left the house. Hermione couldn't get over her happiness about the money she would receive; she would get to help house elves.


	24. Chapter 24

**Elf Rights**

Hermione was sticking up posters for her campaign with people around the Ministry, she had asked some other people from the department to hand out flyers and she had made a few speeches about what could be achieved if the law was passed saying that house elves could no longer be abused or abandoned.

"You feeling confident Miss?" said Rita, who had just stuck up a poster,

"Not particularly." said Hermione,

"Don't worry, I'm sure that people will vote in our favor, just give it a chance." she said in a consoling tone,

"You think so?" said Hermione,

"Yes." said Rita,

"Thanks." Hermione told her appreciatively,

"No problem Miss." said Rita, she continued to stick the posters to the walls, Hermione had retold the story that Kreacher had told to a group of gossips which got the hype about it back up, Hermione was sure that she would be feeling the confidence soon but she still had yet to feel anything.

Hermione went home after work and as soon as she walked through the door, a knock arrived at it; Hermione opened it to see Mr. Weasley,

"Um, Arthur, what are you doing here?" she asked genuinely,

"I come baring news." he said excitedly,

'Well, come in, sit down." she said, he walked in and she closed the door behind him, he sat on the sofa and Hermione sat with him, "So what is your news?" Hermione asked, interested.

"I just talked to Xenophilius Lovegood," he said, "He says that he has some room that he needs filling in the next issue of the _Quibbler_ and I said that he could interview you, about your campaign."

"Really?" said Hermione, this was good news but the _Quibbler_ was hardly flying off of the shelves, Mr. Weasley nodded,

"Yes, he says he'll be able to interview you," he repeated,

"Um, when?" asked Hermione,

"As soon as possible." said Mr. Weasley,

"So, now?" asked Hermione,

"Perfect." said Mr. Weasley, "Xeno will be expecting you."

"Great." said Hermione, Mr. Weasley left just as Ron entered the house,

"Hello Ron." said Mr. Weasley,

"Hi Dad." said Ron, Mr. Weasley walked out of the door, closed it behind himself and Ron joined Hermione on the sofa,

"Hey Ron." said Hermione,

"Hey," he said, "Why was my dad here?" he asked,

"Oh," said Hermione, "He said that Xenophilius Lovegood can interview me for the _Quibbler_." Ron couldn't hold down a laugh,

"Don't laugh." Hermione ordered,

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he said with a smirk, "It's just, if you want people to know your story, I wouldn't think that the _Quibbler_ would be the way to go." he said,

"I know, but what are my other options?" said Hermione,

"True." he said, Hermione hit him with a pillow and got up, she walked over to the door, "Where are you going?" he asked,

"To Xenophilius Lovegoods's house." she said,

"What, now?" he asked,

"Yes now." she walked out the door and off of the porch onto the grass, she dissapparated.

She appeared outside of Luna's childhood home, it looked like a giant chess rook with kites on the roof, big bushes filled with weird fruit and various signs outside of the front door. Hermione knocked on the door and waited for an answer, she quickly prepared mentally what she was going to say in the interview and a split second later the door swung open, Luna's dad, Xenophilius Lovegood, stood behind the threshold,

"Hello Miss Granger." he said,

"Good afternoon Mr. Lovegood." said Hermione politely,

"I can only assume that you're ready for your interview?" he asked,

"Yes, yes I am." said Hermione,

"Come in." he said, Hermione did so, she walked into the living room, the house had a spiral, metal staircase down the centre, "Follow me to my office." he said, he walked up the stairs and Hermione followed him, they soon walked out at a room that Hermione assumed was used for editing the magazine, he sat in a chair, he held a quill and a piece of parchment in his hand and Hermione sat down in the chair opposite him.

"So Miss Granger, what is it that you hope to achieve with your campaign?" he asked,

"I hope to make it illegal for house elves to be abuse and abandoned." Hermione answered,

"And you need the public majority to do so?" he asked,

"Yes I do." she said, Xenophilius started writing down with his quill on his parchment,

"Would you say that house elf enslavement was a major concern of yours?" he asked,

"Definitely," said Hermione, "Not just me, I think that it should be a concern of everyone's, house elf enslavement is one of the biggest problems with society and I hope to fix that with the S.P.E.W office and this law is one of my steps to achieving that goal." he wrote on his parchment some more,

"Ah yes, my Luna told me about S.P.E.W, it stands for the society for the promotion of elfish welfare does it not?" he asked,

"That's correct." said Hermione,

"Why is this particular law a concern of yours right now?' he asked,

"Well, it seems a good place to start, one of my biggest worries is that house elves are having pain inflicted upon them, it's completely barbaric," she said, "I plan to pass more laws in the future but this is where I'm starting." she said. Xenophilius continued to write. He asked her a bit about the living conditions of house elves and Hermione gave him some of the very worse case scenarios, she talked about Hodge and how he kidnapped elves and put shock collars on them and that wasn't even the worst of it, Xenophilius seemed interested as he wrote things down, he also asked her about her experience in house elf abandonment, Hermione told him about the missions of the house elf rescue squad and he wrote more and more.

"What inspired you to start S.P.E.W in the first place?' he asked,

"Well, when I found out that Hogwarts was using house elves I was distraught, I started S.P.E.W as a small group, after a few years it grew into a school club where I abolished the law stating that house elves can't use wands, then, after I got all of my N.E.W.T qualifications I was offered a job at the Ministry by Kingsley Shacklebolt where I head the S.P.E.W currently." she explained,

"Wow, so, you were offered the job by the Minister for Magic himself?" he asked,

"Yes." said Hermione,

"So, the Minister supports S.P.E.W?" he asked,

"I suppose he does, yes." said Hermione, Xenophilius wrote on his parchment happily. He asked a few more questions until the interview was over and Xenophilius had many sheets of parchment by the end,

"Thank you Miss Granger." he said, he held out a hand,

"My pleasure." Hermione reciprocated and shook his hand; he led her down the stairs and out of the door,

"Goodbye Miss Granger." he said, Hermione waved at him and dissapparated.

The _Quibbler _came out the next day and Hermione saw some people at the Ministry looking interested at it, she gave a glance over their shoulders and saw that they were reading her interview. Hermione went into her office,

"Miss, Miss." said Rita who came running in,

"What, what is it?" asked Hermione worried,

"No, no, it's nothing bad, after your interview with the _Quibbler_, the _Daily Prophet_ have requested an interview with you about your campaign, Hermione was excited now as people around the country read the _Daily Prophet_.

She went in for her interview later that day and was asked mainly the same questions that she was asked by Xenophilius, she told them what she was campaigning, how she founded S.P.E.W, what she planned for the future, the living conditions of house elves and who they had saved. By the end of the interview she came out looking like the good guy and was happy with it, that issue would come out a few days later and people would actually read it.

Hermione gave speeches and held fundraisers over the passing days, loads of people were talking about how good S.P.E.W was since the latest issue of the _Daily Prophet_ came out and Hermione was very pleased with the reception that she had received. People started to respect her and S.P.E.W since they found she was hired and S.P.E.W was added by Kingsley and people tended to follow the Minister like a heard of sheep.

The night of the polls arrived, Hermione wasn't that familiar with how the system worked in the wizarding world, people would send owls with their vote to the Ministry where they would be put in a room and counted. Hermione sat in the room along with Rita, Mr. Sadderick and a few counters that were tallying every owl that came and then tallying all of the people who voted along with Hermione and every one that was against her.

Owls would come every so often and the reception seemed to be pretty balanced. There were points during the day when no owls came at all and other points where five would arrive at a time. Most owls would arrive with lots of voted tied around their feet and by noon the votes were in Hermione's favor.

"We're doing very well Miss, I'd say." said Rita,

"Yes we are.' Hermione replied,

"We'd better," said Mr. Sadderick.

By the mid afternoon, the votes were against Hermione and she was getting worried,

"Don't worry Miss, the votes keep coming in until dawn." said Rita,

"I know." she said with complete lack of confidence. Over the next few hours the votes went up and down in and against Hermione's favor and she went from moments of solitude to moments of complete stress.

Hermione bit her nails out of being nervous as it was late evening and she was losing,

"I wouldn't be worried Miss, you look tired, you should go home." said Rita, Mr. Sadderick had already gone,

"I am tired." Hermione admitted,

"Exactly, go home, go to sleep and you'll find out tomorrow." said Rita,

"Okay, good, good, good advice." said Hermione, "Where will you be?" she asked,

"I'll be here." said Rita, "Waiting for the final result."

"No, I can't leave whilst you're here." said Hermione,

"Nonsense." said Rita, "Get some sleep." she instructed in her posh voice. Hermione left the Ministry through the fireplace and appeared in her own fireplace, she took Rita's advice and went to sleep.

Hermione woke up the next morning at six in the morning, she got dressed in a rush, apparated to the toilets, flushed herself down and appeared in a fireplace and ran to the poll room, Rita was still there,

"Hello Miss, thought you could use some coffee." she said as she passed Hermione a cup, Hermione accepted, sat next to Rita and drank,

"How are the polls doing?" asked Hermione,

"They're counting the last ones now." said Rita, the coffee was a real help in waking Hermione up, it took them another hour to count up the votes, Hermione sat for every second of it, the finally finished and turned to Hermione and Rita,

"So…?" asked Hermione,

"The law has been passed." said one of the counting wizards,

"Really?" asked Rita and Hermione excitedly in unison,

"I amend that statement, you won by a landslide." he said, Hermione and Rita cheered and hugged and cheered some more,

"This is so great!" cried Hermione,

"I know!" cried Rita, the two of them cheered some more.

"So, what were the results?" asked Ron when she went down to his department to tell him and Harry, Hermione took and deep breath,

"I won, the law was passed." she said,

"Really?" they asked just as Hermione and Rita had, Hermione nodded,

"That's so great!" cried Ron,

"I know!" said Hermione, he got up and hugged her,

"I'm so proud of you." he said,

"Yes, I'm proud of me too." she said,

"Well done Hermione." said Harry,

"Thanks." she said, Ron hugged her some more and they celebrated with some butterbeer.


	25. Chapter 25

**Hunt in Vegas**

Hermione stepped out of the lift to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and walked down the hall, she was there to see Ron and Harry but was again distracted by the investigations, she peered into the door of the Mitzi Kolinsky investigation but walked on into the room of the Katrina and Hodge investigation.

"How's it going?" she asked a random wizard,

"Excellent!" he cried,

"What do you mean?" she asked,

"An American Ministry agent thought he spotted them, we've located where they are, we can send in some aurors as soon as possible,

"How many aurors will you need for this?" asked Hermione,

"Well, we want it to be a small, unsuspecting operation, so, maybe two, perhaps three." he said,

"Would I be able to volunteer for this job?" she asked,

"That depends," he said,

"On what?" she asked,

"Are you an auror?" he asked,

"Well, no…" she tried,

"Then probably not." he said,

"Come on, can't you just make an acceptation for me?" she asked politely,

"I don't think so, I don't even know you Miss." he said,

"True. True, but look at this face, doesn't it just scream 'auror material'." she tried again,

"Not really, no." he said,

"Well, I'm going anyway." she said, "I am going to make sure that that slimy little git doesn't slip through my fingers." Hermione stormed off, but not to Harry and Ron, to Kingsley's office.

She knocked and heard a voice,

"Come in." it said, the voice belonged to Kingsley, Hermione entered the office, "What can I do for you Miss Granger?" he asked,

"Kingsley, I would like to volunteer myself for the arrest of Katrina Walker and Clement Hodge." she said,

"And why is that?" he asked,

"It's personal, she assaulted me, sued and many other things and that man put shock collars around stolen house elves necks, I want to be there when they get arrested." she said,

"You understand that you would not be alone, you would be with a couple of other aurors, if I accept." he said,

"Come on," she pleaded, "You saw what I could do at the Battle of Hogwarts, I'm more than capable."

"True," he said, "Miss Granger, you have just made yourself into a temporary auror."

"Thank you, you won't regret this." she left the office hoping that the words that had just come out of her mouth were true.

The mission was all ready to take place the following day, and she was shocked and pleased to find out that the two aurors to be accompanying her would be Harry and Ron,

"Why are you here?" asked Ron,

"What, so now a girl from a completely different department can't volunteer herself to be a temporary auror?" she said, Harry and Ron both laughed. They would be taking the floo network to America and they would be taking a team of aurors that would be apparating to their aid should they need it once they find Katrina and Hodge,

"By the way, what part of America are we searching?" asked Hermione,

"Las Vegas." said Harry. The three of them and the team, all crammed into a fire place, were engulfed by green flames.

They appeared in another fireplace and they all came out and were just barely able as there were eight people in one fireplace. Hermione realised that she was in an small hut with only a fireplace in it she stepped out of the door and saw that she was on top of a hill and below was Vegas, there were so many signs, glowing, casinos, gambling and more, the music coming from the city was intoxicating. She turned around and saw that the hut had vanished, she put her hand out and could feel it and then she could sort of make out an outline, she let go and stepped back, Ron and Harry stepped out of a gap in the air,

"Why is it invisible?" asked Hermione,

"Oh, it's under a disillusionment charm." said Harry,

"Will they be alright in there?" asked Hermione,

"Yes, we'll just send them a patronus should we need to and they'll apparate to us in a flash." said Ron,

"Okay." said Hermione, the three of them walked down the hill, it was evening time and the city was amazing to experience, Hermione walked past many casinos and chapels and hotels.

"Now," said Harry, "The American agent said that he saw them in…here." he said, passing a pamphlet to Hermione and Ron,

"Well, lets go there then." said Hermione, it was a pamphlet for a hotel: _The Serpentine_, on the pamphlet it had a picture of it, it had a sign on the top and balconies all along the front that had lines of doors that Hermione supposed led into rooms,

"What room did he say they were in?" asked Ron,

"Thirty four.' said Harry,

"Well, let's go then." she said, she looked at the picture and pictured it clearly in her mind, she took the arms of Harry and Ron and they dissapparated.

They appeared outside of the exact same hotel as on the pamphlet, of course, it was a bit rundown by now. Hermione found some stairs and began to walk up them, she was followed by Harry and Ron, she went to the first balcony, she looked at the doors,

"They're the teens!" she cried, she ran back up the stairs to the next balcony, she looked at the doors, "Twenties!" she cried, she ran up to the next balcony, this contained the thirties, Hermione went past thirty one, thirty two, thirty three and then thirty four. She stood outside of the door and waited for Harry and Ron, they came up to her,

"So how should we do this?" asked Ron,

"I don't know, you're the one with experience." said Hermione,

"How about like this?" said Harry, "One, two, three," he whispered, "_Reducto_!" he cried and the door flew off of its hinges, the three of them went marching in,

"Come out, come out wherever you are!" yelled Hermione,

"This isn't a game of hide and seek." said Ron. Hermione, Harry and Ron opened all of the doors that the room contained and checked each room, wardrobe and cupboard.

"They aren't here are they?" asked Hermione disappointedly,

"Doesn't look like it, no." said Harry,

"Sorry," said Ron, he put an arm around her shoulder to console her, Hermione saw something on the bed,

"Well what's that?" she asked,

"What's what?" asked Harry,

"That, there." she pointed at the thing on the bed, Harry picked it up,

"Looks like a leaflet." he said,

"A leaflet for what?" asked Ron,

"A Vegas chapel." he said,

"They're getting married?" asked Hermione, Hermione snatched it from Harry and looked through it, things had been circled and picked out, "They've used this." said Hermione,

"Well, here we go." said Ron,

"_Reparo_." said Hermione, the door repaired, Ron stared at the picture this time and apparated them both to the outside of the chapel.

Hermione walked through the doors to a reception area, there was a desk with a woman behind it,

"Um, excuse me, does that door there lead to the chapel?" asked Hermione, pointing at the large door,

"Yes, why, do you want to get married?" asked the woman behind the desk,

"Well, yes, but not here," she said, "Did a young, black haired woman go in there with and middle aged man?" asked Hermione,

"I'm afraid that I can't divulge that information." said the woman,

"We're police." said Hermione,

"I'm sorry-"

"We really have to know!" said Ron in a raised voice,

"Look, sir, if you want to get married then,

"Do we look like we're kidding around, you are going to tell us if the people my colleague just described are in that room or not!" yelled Harry, the woman nodded out of fear of Harry,

"Right then." said Hermione, she walked up to the door and pushed it open, Katrina stood up there in a short white dress that barely covered her thighs and started part way down her chest, Hodge was in a suit and the minister who was dressed as Cupid said,

"If anyone knows any reason why these two people should not be joined together in holy matrimony, speak now, or forever hold your peace,

"I have a reason." said Hermione, the three turned to look at her at the end of the isle, backed up by Harry and Ron, "How about the fact that their honeymoon suite will be a cell in Azkaban." said Hermione,

"_Petrificus Totalus_!" she cried and the minister fell to the floor rigid, Ron and Harry went to duel with Hodge and Hermione was left to duel with Katrina.

"Why did you have to burst in here mudblood, he was about to make me his bride." said Katrina longingly,

"Well, you don't look much like one, you look more like you should be dancing around a pole." said Hermione,

"_Crucio_." said Katrina and the red light headed for Hermione,

"_Protego._" she said quickly and the light went back for Katrina, she screamed in pain but it soon washed over her,

"_Avada Kedavra_." she said, Hermione came back with,

"_Stupefy_." the spells hooked onto each other and Katrina had gotten stronger since the last time they had dueled. Hermione's spell still ate through Katrina's and she went flying backwards. Hermione walked over to her, pointed out her wand and thought '_Levicorpus_' clearly, and Katrina was lifted up by her ankles, Hermione threw her across the room where she fell into Hodge who also fell over on impact, Katrina and Hodge both pointed their wands at Harry, Ron and Hermione,

"_Expelliarmus._" said Harry and Ron in unison and their wands popped out of there hands,

"_Petrificus Totalus._" said Hermione and Ron in unison and the two went stiff and rigid and went to the floor, Hermione walked over to Katrina's head and kicked her nose, breaking it, she did the same to Hodge, she couldn't contain her anger at the two of them so she gave out a small scream.

She pulled two pairs of hand cuffs from her beaded bag and slammed them around their wrists, Ron collected their wands and the five of them apparated to the small hut that they had arrived in,

"Take these two back to the Ministry." Harry instructed, the five aurors went through the fireplace via the floo network with Katrina and Hodge's rigid, cuffed bodies.

"I think that went well." said Hermione,

"Good job for your first mission." said Ron,

"Yeah, but, I don't think that I'll be becoming an auror anytime soon." said Hermione, "I'll stick to S.P.E.W."

"Good for you." said Harry, and the three of them walked into the fireplace, dropped the floo powder and were swallowed by the bright, green flames.


	26. Chapter 26

**Welcome Home!**

Ginny had finished the plans on the bridal shower and was decorating the barn, but Hermione was excited for another reason, today was the day that Luna was coming home, Hermione had decided to turn it into and bridal shower slash welcome home party. Hermione and Luna had been writing to each other regularly, Hermione had given Luna her address as Luna had never seen the house before and she was scheduled to arrive in the barn in the evening.

"Looking good." Hermione said to Ginny upon entering the barn, the vehicles had been moved out of the way, waiters had been hired to serve drinks and nibbles, tables were set up, lanterns were put around to light the place up and Ginny had hired some entertainment who were setting themselves up,

"I know." said Ginny,

"I'm really excited." Hermione told her,

"Me too." said Ginny, "I'm hanging these two banners." Ginny showed Hermione two, well decorated, banners, one said: _Welcome Home Luna_ and the other said: _Happy Wedding Hermione_,

"Thanks." said Hermione,

"I can't wait to hear about Luna's travels." said Ginny,

"Me neither." said Hermione.

The door to the barn opened and Demelza entered,

"Hey everyone." she said,

"Hey Dem, I wasn't expecting you this early," said Ginny,

"I know but I had no more lectures today so I thought I'd come down." she said,

"I'm glad you did.' said Hermione, she hugged Demelza as did Ginny,

"So is Luna coming back tonight?" asked Demelza,

"Yeah," said Ginny,

"Great." said Demelza,

"And she'll be staying until the wedding." said Hermione,

"Oh, so she'll be here for the hen do?" said Demelza,

"Yep." said Ginny happily,

"And we're not going to any strip clubs." Hermione told Ginny,

"No, I read the list of things not to include, that was on there." Ginny said sadly,

"So what are we doing?" asked Demelza,

"I can't say that _yet_." said Ginny,

"So, how've you been?" asked Demelza,

"Oh, did I tell you that I caught Katrina?" Hermione told her,

"No, that's great, wait, _you_ caught her, as in you yourself?" asked Demelza,

"Well, me Harry and Ron, I was made a temporary auror." said Hermione,

"Good for you." said Demelza, "And you Ginny?" she asked,

"The leagues going really well, we've won as long as we beat the Falmouth Falcons." said Ginny, "They crushed Puddlemere United." said Ginny,

"I know I heard about that." said Demelza, "Well, I think you'll win." she quickly knocked on the wooden wall of the barn to make sure not to jinx it.

A few hours later the bridal shower had started, Hermione was socializing with the guests, the guest list was entirely female, it included people such as Hermione's mother, Mrs. Weasley, Hermione's female cousins, Hermione's grandmother, Ginny, Demelza and a couple of school friends.

"Well, I think its going well so far." said Ginny who sipped a glass of mead,

"So do I." Hermione agreed, clinking her glass with Ginny's, the banners had been put up and the barn looked better than before, Ginny had blown up some balloons and put up some hangings.

"Do you know when Luna's getting here?" asked Ginny,

"No, we haven't specified the time, we only agreed upon the evening." Hermione told her.

"So she should be here soon then?" asked Ginny,

"I suppose so." said Hermione,

"Do you want to open your presents?" asked Ginny, pointing to a table full of presents,

"No, not yet, not until Luna gets here." said Hermione,

"Fair enough." said Ginny.

Hermione started to dance with Ginny and Demelza when the band started going and they were having a really good time of it all. Hermione grabbed a piece of shrimp from a waiter and continued.

Soon enough, the large wooden door of the barn creaked open, everyone stopped and stared at it, it was soon open fully and Luna stood there, looking like she had wondered in accidentally, she was wheeling along a pink bicycle with a white basket on the front and plastic daisies on it and she had Newt the border collie on a lead next to her, everyone cheered, Hermione walked up to her,

"Welcome home." she said,

"Hello." said Luna in her dreamy voice, Hermione hugged her, as did Ginny and Demelza, "I've missed you all so much." she said,

"We've missed you too." said Hermione, the four of them went to sit down at a table together.

"So," said Ginny, "Tell us about your trip, what was it like?"

"Oh, it was amazing, one of the best experiences of my life." said Luna,

"How did you get around?" asked Hermione,

"Well, you see my bicycle," she started, "I charmed it so that it would fly, that way I could just pilot it over the ocean, I would put Newt in my bag which has an undetectable extension charm upon it, thanks to Hermione, I would put that in my basket and he would poke his head out during journeys." she said.

"Wow." said Demelza,

"What did you find?" asked Ginny,

"Well, I've found nearly every creature in _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_, I still have a few to discover, and I've found some creatures of my own, I would take a picture of everything I found and write down about my experiences, I planning to make them into a book." said Luna,

"Really, that's great." said Hermione,

"Do you have any of these pictures with you?" asked Demelza,

"I do." said Luna, she went over to grab her bag from her basket on her pink bike and brought it back to them, she pulled out a massive stack of pictures, bound together by two pieces of string and gave them to Demelza who showed them to everyone,

"So what new creatures have you discovered, did you find a crumple horned snorkack?" asked Hermione,

"Sadly no," said Luna, "But I did find many other things, I discovered the nargles, I have a picture of them somewhere," Luna took the stack of pictures and flicked through them, she pulled one out and handed it to Hermione, the picture contained a piece of mistletoe and a small, beautiful, insect like thing flying out of it, you could make out it's hands, it had opposable thumbs, it had flittering wings and a glowing body,

"This is a nargle?" asked Hermione,

"Yes," said Luna happily, "It was very hard to take that photograph too; I had to make sure that my necklace was close." Luna tapped her necklace of butterbeer corks,

"What else did you find?" asked Hermione,

"I found a moon frog, I think; I took this photograph through an extremely powerful telescope." Luna handed Hermione the photo and Hermione looked at it, it showed part of the surface of the moon and showed something in the distance hopping, Hermione could not tell what it was, it could have been a rock but Hermione thought she saw some legs,

"Good, what else?" asked Ginny,

"I took this picture through a pair of my best spectrespecs." said Luna, she handed Hermione another photo, it was of a persons head and you could see many dots flying around their ear,

"And they are…?" asked Demelza,

"Wrackspurts, they crawl inside your ears and make your brain go fuzzy." said Luna, "I obviously warned the man and retreated the area quickly as a precaution,

"Keep going, what else?" asked Demelza, Luna flitted through her photographs,

"Ah, I took this whilst in Uganda." said Luna, showing them a photo of what looked like an elongated brain, crawling along the floor, "I believe it to be an aquavirius maggot." said Luna,

"Cool." said Ginny, Luna continued to scan an pulled out another one that she handed to Hermione, it was a picture of a large bonfire and it looked like a horse like creature was running through it though it was hard to tell whether it was just a trick of the flames,

"What's that?" asked Ginny,

"I think it's a heliopath." said Luna, "It's a fire demon that burns anything in its path." she took the photo back and pulled out another one, it was of a plimpy, but not a regular one, it had huge, air-filled cheeks and bigger lips,

"Where did you find that?" asked Hermione,

"It's a gulping plimpy," said Luna, "I found it when scuba diving in Italy." said Luna,

"Very impressive." said Ginny,

"That's all of the new creatures that I've discovered so far, I hope to find some more, the rest are pictures of well known creatures." she handed them to Hermione who looked through them and the notes that Luna had gotten out which were quite fascinating.

Hermione next opened her presents; she received the regular type of thing, clothes, jewellery, appliances and more.

"Oh, I almost forgot." said Luna, "I got you this." she pulled what looked like wind chimes, it had multiple parts of wood, metal, shells and other materials, it looked beautiful and the noise it made was amazing and dreamy, "it's said to bring good luck when hung in the garden and the owner is truly in love, I thought it was appropriate for the occasion." she said,

"Thank you." said Hermione, taking the chimes from her, "I'll go and hang these now." Hermione vacated the barn and went into her house, through the back door, over the back garden porch and hung the chimes on a cherry tree, they looked good and Hermione almost lost herself in them when a gust of wind came by and they made a noise.

Hermione walked out of her front door and looked at the full moon, she thought she saw Luna walking by the other side of the house so she followed her, she was lying down, hiding behind some grass with a pair of binoculars and a camera next to her,

"What are you doing?" asked Hermione,

"Shhh." said Luna in a whisper,

"Sorry," Hermione whispered, "What are you doing?" she repeated,

"Get down." Luna's whisper demanded, Hermione lay next to Luna, on their stomachs with their heads up looking at the field, "It's a full moon tonight." whispered Luna,

"And…?" asked Hermione,

"You have a field and it's perfect conditions for a mooncalf." said Luna,

"Oh." said Hermione; she knew what a mooncalf was as it was in _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_,

"Keep quiet; if it knows we're here then it'll retreat, it does a most beautiful dance." Luna whispered.

Hermione saw a rustle in a separate area of the field, the moon hit the centre of the field perfectly, she saw something rise from the ground. It was a strange looking creature that stepped lightly on its enormous flat feet, it went into the moonlight and Luna and Hermione swapped the binoculars to watch. It did a very complicated yet beautiful dance, it left patterns in the tall grass. Hermione was amazed to witness this, Luna was very happy. It finally finished its dance and then left a small pile of silvery dung, Luna took a picture and the mooncalf ran back into its burrow.

Hermione and Luna walked onto the field and saw the large, geometric pattern in the grass; this is what muggles called crop circles. Luna took pictures of it with her camera and pulled out a plastic bag to pick up the silvery dung,

"That's disgusting." said Hermione,

"It's a great fertilizer when used before dawn, I'll bring some home for daddy, by the way, I read the _Quibbler_ and I heard about your law, I'm really pleased." said Luna,

"Thanks." said Hermione,

"There you are," said Ginny who walked up to them, "Everyone's asking where the two guests of honour are."

"Sorry, I'll come back now." said Hermione, "Coming Luna?"

"In a second, I'll deliver this to Daddy first." Hermione returned to her shower and Luna dissapparated, she soon returned (minus the dung), she jotted down some notes about what she'd seen and they all had a great time, Hermione was just pleased to have her friend back.


	27. Chapter 27

**Hen Party**

The night after the shower was the night of Hermione's hen party, but it was also the day of Ginny's Quidditch final, she was very nervous about it all, she didn't want to break her winning streak (she counted the draw as a win),

"I'm going to lose." she was saying,

"You're not going to lose." Hermione assured her,

"You think so?" she asked,

"Yes," said Demelza who was still in town for the hen party,

"Okay." said Ginny,

"Now go to practice." Hermione instructed,

"I will." said Ginny, and she dissapparated off of Hermione's porch.

"Do you really think she'll win?" asked Demelza,

"Yes." said Hermione, "Don't you?" she asked,

"I do, of course I do, but, the Falmouth Falcons also haven't lost a game in a long while, no ties or anything, they beat Puddlemere United and they nearly beat Ginny, so, you know, the odds are against her." Demelza explained,

"Well I don't care what the odds say, Ginny is a fantastic Quidditch player and I haven't a doubt that she'll crush the Falmouth Falcons." said Hermione confidently.

"If you say so." said Demelza in a worried tone.

A few hours later Hermione, Ron, Demelza, Luna and Harry were walking into the Quidditch stadium to watch Ginny's match, they handed in their free tickets, they walked through the little hallway which, Hermione was glad to see, no longer contained the wanted posters of Katrina and Hodge, they walked into the stands and found a place in them. They saw George who was cheering for Angelina; they saw Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and they saw Bill, Fleur and baby Victoire, all rooting for the Holyhead Harpies.

"CAN WE WELCOME ONTO THE PITCH…THE FALMOUTH FALCONS!" said the loud voice that filled the arena, seven people in dark grey robes with white falcon emblems on the chest flew onto the pitch, "AND ANOTHER WARM WELCOME TO THE LADIES OF QUIDDITCH…THE HOLYHEAD HARPIES!" boomed the voice, the seven players, including Ginny, flew onto the pitch in their dark green robes and leprechauns danced in the crowd, Hermione, Luna, Demelza, Harry and the Weasleys all cheered for them, "LET THE MATCH BEGIN!" the players started zooming around the pitch.

"AND WE'RE OFF TO A GOOD START, VALMAI MORGAN HAS THE QUAFFLE, SHE GOES FOR THE HOOP AND SHE SCORES, TEN POINTS TO THE HOLYHEAD HARPIES, RUDDLEY CASLISP HAS THE QUAFFLE, HE GOES FOR THE HOOP, AND GETS HIT, NICE BLUDGER FROM GWENOG JONES, THE QUAFFLE IS CAUGHT BY KENNILBY HOOVE WHO, OUCH, DOESN'T EVEN GO NEAR THE HOOP, GOOD BLUDGER FROM ROCHELE APPLEWHITE, ANGELINA JOHNSON WITH THE QUAFFLE NOW, SHE PASSES IT TO GINNY WEASLEY WHO GOES FOR THE HOOP…AND…SCORES, TWENTY POINTS TO THE HOLYHEAD HARPIES, ANGELINA STEALS THE QUAFFLE BEFORE ANYONE CAN TOUCH IT AND SCORES AGAIN, THIRTY POINTS TO THE HOLYHEAD HARPIES, THIS IS ONE OF THE FASTEST SCORING WE'VE SEEN IN YEARS, KENNILBY HOOVE HAS THE QUFFLE AND GOES TO THE HOOP, HE THROWS THE QUFFLE AND, OOH, IT HITS DORABELLA RICOLLETI IN THE SIDE OF THE HEAD BEFORE GOING IN, TEN POINTS TO THE FALMOUTH FALCONS!"

The scores went up and down for a while, but mainly up for the Holyhead Harpies who were always in the lead at all times, the Falmouth Falcons were playing appallingly,

"AND THERE GOES GINNY WEASLEY WHO SCORES AGAIN, ONE HUNDRED AND TEN POINTS TO THE HOLYHEAD HARPIES, ALMA POLLIER STEALS THE QUAFFLE AND THROWS IT BUT IT IS NICLEY DEFLECTED BY DORABELLA RICOLLETIWHO KICKS IT, AND IT'S CAUGHT BY ANGELINA JOHNSON, SHE PASSES TO VALMAI MORGAN WHO ZOOMS ACROSS THE PITCH AND SCORES, ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY POINTS TO THE HOLYHEAD HARPIES AND STILL ONLY FORTY TO THE FALMOUTH FALCONS, FALCONS IF YOU WANT TO WIN, YOU'D BETTER PICK UP YOUR GAME, OKAY, AND RUDDLEY CASLISP HAS THE QUAFFLE, HE CATSHES RICOLLETI OFF GUARD AND HE SCORES, FIFTY POINTS TO THE FALMOUTH FALCONS, VALMAI MORGAN STEALS THE QUAFFLE AND ZOOMS TO THE OTHER SIDE, AND, OUCH, HIT BY A BLUDGER FROM BASIL HORTON, BUT IT'S OKAY, GINNY WEASLEY HAS THE QUAFFLE, SHE'S HEADED OFF BY POLLIER AND HOOVE BUT SHE PASSES, IT'S CAUGHT BY ANGELINA JOHNSON WHO THROWS IT RIGHT PAST RANDOLPH KEITCH'S HEAD AND THAT'S ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY POINTS TO THE HOLYHEAD HARPIES!"

The scores for the Holyhead Harpies kept going dramatically up and the Falmouth Falcons were only occasional scorers,

"ALMA POLLIER THROWS THE QUAFFLE AND IT GOES IN, MISSED ONLY JUST BY RICOLLETI, SEVENTY POINTS TO THE FALCONS, CASLISP HAS THE QUAFFLE BUT IS SOON HIT BY A BLUDGER FROM GWENOG JONES AND VALMAI MORGAN TAKES IT, SHE ZOOMS TO THE OTHER END OF THE PITCH, SWIFTLY AVOIDING A BLUDGER FROM JONESY PHILLIPS AND SCORES, TWO HUNDRED AND TEN TO THE HOLYHEAD HARPIES, KEITCH REAMAINS OBLIVIOUS, SPEAKING OF REMAIN, MARIANNA ROMAIN HAS EYE ON THE SNITCH, SHE'S GOING FOR IT, SHE AVOIDS A BLUDGER FROM HORTON AND SHE HAS HER HAND OUT, MICK GARCIA PERSUES HER AND, OUCH, A LUCKY BLUDGER FROM PHILLIPS HITS ROMAIN, GARCIA HAS A CLEAR EYE ON THE SNITCH AND HE CATCHES IT, THE GAME IS OVER, THE HOLYHEAD HARPIES HAVE TWO HUNDRED AND TEN POINTS AND THE FALMOUTH FALCONS HAVE TWO HUNDRED AND TWENTY, THE FALMOUTH FALCONS WIN!" Hermione could see Ginny's smile deteriorate, she had a crushed look in her eyes, the Falmouth Falcons had won the match and the league along with it.

Later in the day, Hermione was consoling Ginny in number twelve,

"It's alright, cheer up." she tried,

"We lost, we lost!" yelled Ginny,

"You didn't lose; you came second in the league, that's still very good." Hermione said,

"No it isn't, that just makes it more disappointing that we're not in first." moaned Ginny,

"Come on." said Hermione, "You still have my hen night to look forward to tonight." said Hermione,

"That's true." Ginny came around,

"And I'm sure whatever you've planned will be a lot of fun." said Hermione,

"Yeah." said Ginny,

"Great, so cheer up." said Hermione,

"I will." said Ginny,

"So can you tell me what you have planned now?" asked Hermione,

"I guess so," said Ginny, "It's just a dinner at a French restaurant that I found and then I found this muggle night club that I thought you might enjoy because you've never been to one growing up in the wizarding world, and then we're spending the night and the next day at a spa hotel." said Ginny,

"See, that sounds nice." said Hermione, "When should I be ready for?" asked Hermione,

"Well, the reservation is for six, so be ready for quarter to, I've already told Luna and Demelza." said Ginny,

"Okay." said Hermione.

Hermione put on and nice, black dress, some make up and some nice jewellery, she put some clothes in her beaded bag and was ready to go, she sat on the sofa and eventually, there was a knock at the door. Hermione answered it and saw Ginny, Luna and Demelza standing there,

"Just one thing." said Ginny, she pulled out a veil with pink netting and a fluffy headband and put it on Hermione's head, "Perfect, you ready to go?" she asked,

"Yes." said Hermione, she closed the door and the four of them dissapparated and appeared looking at a French restaurant, it looked very fancy, _petit coin de paradis_, the sign said,

"What does it mean?" asked Demelza,

"Little slice of heaven." said Luna,

"Come on, let's go in." Ginny said, they did so, Ginny confirmed their reservation and they were shown to their table for four,

"It's a nice place." said Demelza,

"Yes, it is." said Hermione, they sat down and looked at the menus, they ordered and were surprised to see that Luna ordered in perfect French (probably because she had been to France).

They enjoyed their meal and for dessert they ordered the soufflé and they thoroughly enjoyed that too.

"So where to next?" asked Demelza, wiping chocolate from around her mouth,

"The night club." said Ginny, "I'll pay and let's go." she said,

"No, no," said Hermione, "I'll pay."

"Nonsense." said Ginny, "I'm the Maid of Honour, I'll do it." Ginny covered the cheque and they left the restaurant.

They apparated to the outside of a muggle night club and stood in line,

"This is going to be a lot of fun." said Luna,

"Yeah it is," said Ginny, "I researched it, apparently it's very popular." she said, they soon moved to the front of the queue and were let in by the bouncer and entered the club. The music was very loud; Hermione was barely able to hear her bridesmaids' yells. They ordered some muggle drinks, Ginny, Luna and Demelza had never had muggle alcohol before and Hermione was barely experienced in the matter. Hermione ordered red wine and the others just ordered the first thing that they read, Ginny had a martini, Demelza had a daiquiri and Luna had a beer. They enjoyed their drinks and got quite drunk which resulted in embarrassing dancing. The four danced together in the middle of the floor to the tunes that the DJ was playing, Hermione was having a really fun time and by the looks of it, so were Ginny Luna and Demelza.

They left the club at about two o'clock in the morning and Ginny apparated them to the spa hotel. They got to their room and went straight to sleep but the next morning they indulged themselves in pampering, face masks, sea weed wraps, manicures, pedicures, different types of message and more. It was the perfect hangover cure,

"So, did I do good?" asked Ginny as the four of them were having messages,

"Yes, you did very good." said Hermione,

"I know." said Ginny,

"Yeah, I had a great time." said Demelza,

"Yes, it was very fun." said Luna,

"And did you cheer up?" Hermione asked,

"Yeah, you were right, I feel better than ever." said Ginny,

"Good, I'm glad." said Hermione.


	28. Chapter 28

**Hostage**

Hermione walked through the door of her house after coming home from the spa hotel to realise that Ron was on the sofa,

"Hello." she said,

"Hi." he said, she sat on the sofa next to him and they kissed,

"How did the stag do go?" asked Hermione,

"I don't think I'm allowed to tell you." said Ron, "What about the hen?" he asked,

"No, no, no, I'm not telling you if you don't tell me." she said,

"You know what I've been thinking?" asked Ron,

"No, what?" asked Hermione,

"I've been thinking that we've never been on a date that wasn't celebrating something, like, a random date date." he said,

"No, I suppose we haven't." said Hermione,

"So I think that we should go on one, before the wedding." said Ron,

"Yeah, that'd be nice." said Hermione,

"Speaking of the wedding, where are we going for our honeymoon?" he asked,

"The Bahamas." said Hermione,

"Really, great." he said,

"So," Hermione continued, "The date, when should we do it?" she asked,

"As soon as possible, the wedding is in just over a than a week, so, tomorrow night." he suggested,

"Sounds great." said Hermione,

"I'll see you then." said Ron, Hermione laughed,

"Your not nervous, are you, about the wedding?" asked Hermione,

"No," he said, "Not really."

"You sound surprised." she said,

"That's because I am," he said, "I assumed that I'd be freaking out by now, but, no, I'm not, how about you?" he asked,

"I'm the same, I'm not nervous." she said this with complete honesty,

"Good." he said, they kissed again.

At work the next day, Hermione went to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to eat lunch with Harry, Ron and Neville,

"Did you hear?" asked Neville,

"No, what?" asked Hermione,

"More money's gone missing." he said,

"No?" said Hermione,

"Yes," said Ron, "Fairly recently." he said,

"How much?" she asked,

"Thousands." said Harry, "Many, _many_ thousands."

"Oh my God, do they have any clues about who did it?' asked Hermione,

"No, we think it's the same people but no clues, they left nothing behind, they must be really skilled to slip past the goblins, and the defences, we heightened them after last time too." said Ron,

"How on Earth?" she wondered,

"We don't know." said Neville, "It seems almost impossible."

"It does." said Hermione, "It really, really does."

Hermione got ready again that night as she was to go out on a date with Ron,

"You ready yet?" he asked,

"Not yet." she said,

"Hurry up." he moaned,

"Okay, I'm coming." she gave in and they rushed out of the front door, they closed and locked it behind them and dissapparated off of the porch.

They appeared outside of a restaurant where no-one could see them appear and they went in, they were seated at a table and were given menus,

"What are you having?" she asked,

"I don't know yet." he said, they eventually ordered and had a great time; they talked and drank and laughed.

"To us." said Hermione, she raised a glass of champagne and Ron clinked his glass with hers,

"To us." he repeated, they sipped their champagne, "So, ten days until we're man and wife, you excited?" he asked,

"Yes, I really am." she said,

"Me too." he said, "I know that less than a quarter of our guest list will be more people than Percy's side of the church when he got marred." joked Ron, Hermione laughed,

"Yeah, probably." said Hermione.

The two of them continued to laugh and talk about things; they ordered dessert and got everything that they could out of the evening, Ron got the bill and they left the restaurant,

"I really had fun tonight." said Hermione,

"Me too." said Ron, "Are you ready to go home?" he asked,

"Not quite yet." said Hermione,

"We might as well put those lessons to a bit more practice.' said Hermione,

"What do you mean?" he asked,

"Come on." she said.

The two of them danced in the empty, street light lit, car park outside the restaurant, it was an amazing feeling, they performed complicated dance moves (though not as complicated as that of the mooncalf), no-one was around to see them, no cars drove up, it was just the two of them, dancing.

"You're very good now." Hermione said,

"You were always good." said Ron,

"Why thank you." said Hermione, they continued to dance, Hermione was spun, twirled and lifted and every time she felt the wind through her hair she felt liberated. They finally finished with Hermione jumping into Ron's arms and they continued to walk, Ron's arm around Hermione's shoulder.

"Are you ready to go home now?" he asked,

"Yes," she said, then she realised that something felt like it was missing, "My bag," she said,

"What about it?" asked Ron,

"I don't have my bag." she said,

"Well you probably left it in the restaurant, we can go and get it." he said,

"No, no, I didn't have it in the restaurant.' she said,

"Oh, then it'll be at home." he said, "Come on,"

"No, no, I didn't bring it home either, I think I left it in the office, yes, I definitely left it in my office." she said,

"Oh, well you can just get it tomorrow morning." said Ron, he walked on and Hermione stopped, "You won't be able to sleep tonight unless you go and collect it are you?" he asked,

"No I am not." said Hermione,

"You want me to come with you?" he asked,

"No, you go home, I'll be there in about ten minutes." she said,

"Okay, I love you." he said,

"I love you too." she replied, they kissed, Ron dissapparated and so did Hermione.

Hermione apparated outside of the toilets that led to the Ministry, it was quite late at night now, she went into the toilets, it was dark but Hermione found a cubicle door, she put her nice shoes into the toilet water and flushed herself down. She stepped out of a fireplace with completely dry feet and walked onto the main floor of the Ministry, she saw that no-one was around, not a peep. She walked past the fountain and to the lift; she went down to the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures and walked into her office.

She opened the door to find-

"Rita, what are you doing here this late?" she asked, Rita was dressed in robes of black holding a box and a bag,

"I could ask you the same question." she said,

"I forgot my bag." Hermione grabbed her beaded bag from her desk, "What's with the box and the sack,

"Nothing." she said, the top of the sack was made visible to Hermione and she saw that it was filled with golden Galleons,

"Rita, what are you doing with that?" asked Hermione,

"No, no, no, no," said Rita, "You weren't supposed to be here, I staged it all so perfectly."

"Staged what?" asked Hermione, confused about what was going on,

"I liked you Hermione, I really liked you." said Rita,

"Rita, what's going on?" asked Hermione again, Rita raised her wand and Hermione was suddenly bound by the wrist and tied to a piece of railing at the bottom of her office wall so she was on the ground, "Rita, what the hell?"

"I'll be needing this and this." said Rita; she took her wand and her beaded bag,

"Rita, what's-" Hermione was cut off,

"Stop calling me Rita!" she yelled, "It's not my name, I took it from some byline off the _Daily Prophet_, some Skeeter woman." she said,

"What do you mean?" asked Hermione,

"Come on Hermione, engage your brain, I'm the thief." said Rita,

"You?" asked Hermione, "But you're-"

"What?" said Rita, "What am I, too…nice, too sweet maybe? That was an act."

"But, where's your team?" asked Hermione, tears in her eyes,

"Team, what team?" asked Rita,

"You couldn't have broken into Gringotts by yourself." said Hermione,

"Couldn't I, I did it tonight, I've done it many times before, and not just Gringotts, I've broken into a number of wizarding banks all across the world, I have lot's of experience, I'm very powerful, particularly the Imperious curse." she said, "But you've suspected that before, haven't you, when I used the summoning charm to get you back onto the yacht, I stole that night as well, took advantage of the emptiness of the Ministry, I also stole on the night of the polls, I made you leave, sneaked out and stole again, you didn't really think I was staying behind did you."

"What are you going to do to me?" asked Hermione,

"Well, my initial thought would be to kill you, that's what I did to Mitzi Kolinsky, she caught me in the act, I couldn't shut her up, I strangled her to death to make it look like a muggle murder and buried her in the woods, but as I said, I like you Hermione, I'll probably just wipe your mind, all of it, you'll be left a mindless vegetable." said Rita,

"Why are you doing this?" asked Hermione, she was sobbing now,

"Why else does anyone do anything, for money." she said, Hermione just wished that she could grab her wand but it was so perfectly out of reach.

"Please, I won't tell anyone what I saw, just please let me go?" begged Hermione, the tears flooding from her eyes,

"I'm afraid I can't take that risk, just ask Mitzi, oh wait, you can't." she spoke with such calmness and she particularly lit up when talking about murdering Mitzi, but what hurt Hermione the most was the fact that the one person that cared about S.P.E.W other than Hermione was lying about it.

Rita raised her wand to Hermione and Hermione closed her eyes out of sheer fear, she was about to become like Lockhart,

"What's taking you so lo-" Hermione opened her eyes and saw that Ron was standing at the door and had seen what was about to happen,

"Oh great," said Rita, "Now I have to kill you both."


	29. Chapter 29

**Plan B**

"What's going on here?" asked Ron,

"What's going on is that I was about to turn your fiancée into a mindless vegetable until you came stumbling in so now I'm about to kill you." Rita said, "You know, to summarize it." she giggled a psychopathic giggle, "Now, where was I?" She pointed the wand at Hermione again,

"_Reducto._" said Ron and the rope that bound Hermione exploded from around her wrists so she could break free,

"Oh, you are going to regret that." said Rita, now turning to Ron, Hermione crawled over to her wand and grabbed it,

"_Impedimenta._" said Hermione and Rita tumbled forwards, Hermione grabbed her beaded bag, put it on and ran over to Ron at the door frame, Rita quickly stood up,

"I guess I'm going to have to initiate plan B." said Rita,

"Plan B?" What's that?" asked Hermione,

"You'll see." said Rita, she made a run for the lift and made it in, she pressed a button and it began to move back, Hermione ran up the hall with Ron and they leapt into the lift before the doors shut,

"_Expelliarmus_!" yelled Ron, Rita quickly deflected the spell,

"You dare insult me with _that_ magic." she said,

"_Stupefy_!" yelled Hermione, Rita deflected it again and cast a shield between her and Ron and Hermione, splitting the lift in two, the voice said,

"Floor two, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement." Rita ran out and Hermione ran after her,

"Run, run as fast as you can, you can't catch me I the gingerbread man!" she screamed crazily,

"You're mental!" yelled Ron who was chasing her with Hermione, Rita turned a corner and so did Hermione, Rita turned another and another and another and Hermione lost her.

By the time Hermione caught up with Rita she was opening the room to the holding cells, she waved her wand and all of the cells opened, she grabbed all of the wands that were in the room and handed them out to the prisoners,

"_Expelliarmus_!" yelled Hermione and Rita's wand popped out of her hand, she was caught off guard as it was from behind, Hermione ran through the prisoners, the crazed men and women and pushed Rita into the room and into a cell, she closed the door and locked her in there,

"You think this will hold me for long?" said Rita,

"Well they are called the _holding_ cells." said Hermione, she gave a wave and ran back down the halls, she met Ron who was taking on all of the prisoners by himself.

Hermione sent out many stunning spells and shield charms as they had no problem using unforgivable curses,

"_Avada Kedavra, Avada Kedavra, Avada Kedavra..._" said a bulky wizard who was swinging the green light around his head like a lasso,

"_Stupefy_!" Ron cried and it hit the man in the chest, he flew backwards and the curse stopped and hit the wall causing a small explosion,

"_Petrificus Totalus_." said Hermione after walking up to the bulky man and he went stiff and rigid.

A prisoner witch yelled,

"_Crucio_!" and Hermione came back with,

"_Impedimenta_." and the spells hit each other in mid air, they flung off in opposite directions causing one with to trip over and a wizard to scream in pain and pass out. Hermione yelled, "_Stupefy_!" to the witch that tripped and she jolted and fell unconscious.

Hermione continued to duel with the witch, they each fired many, many curses at each other, the witch cried,

"_Imperio_!" and Hermione said,

"_Protego_!" and an invisible shield came out of her wand, the Imperious curse hit her shield and went directly back at the witch, Hermione then realised that she had control over her, she sent a telepathic message saying '_Run into the wall, run into the wall…'_ The witch did so and fell to the ground.

Ron was taking on two wizards alone so Hermione gave a helping hand in taking on one, she saw how skilled Ron was at dueling, she fired curse after hex after jinx after curse but he blocked them all, she eventually cried,

"_Petrificus Totalus_!" but aimed it at the wizard Ron was dueling and her went rigid and fell over. Hermione thought she saw someone move in the hall she had come from, was it Rita? She left Ron to duel the wizard and went to go and check.

She saw the hallway and was very annoyed to see who was standing in it, Katrina and Hodge,

"_Protego_!" Hermione yelled straight away, confining them both to that area with her invisible shield, Katrina tried to run into it but fell backwards, she quickly got up and yelled,

"_Avada Kedavra_!" it bounced off of the shield and hit the wall behind her, Hodge then fired a range of non-verbal curses, all of which rebounded.

Hermione was sure that she had them pegged now, they continued to fire curses and Hermione smiled at the fact that they were powerless. Right then, the wizard that Ron was dueling ran past and knocked Hermione, Ron ran after him, firing spells but Hermione had lost her concentration, the shield deteriorated. Katrina smiled and ran out, as fast as Hermione she could she yelled,

"_Protego_!" again just as Hodge went for a run up, he ran straight into the shield and flew backwards, he was knocked unconscious.

Hermione turned around and saw that Katrina was heading for the lift, Hermione chased after her,,

"Where are you going, leaving your Clemmy behind?" Hermione yelled whilst running, she fired a spell but it missed, Katrina ducked and Hermione caught up to her. She was nearly at the lift and Hermione jumped onto her shoulders,

"Gerroff!" she screeched,

"Make me!" yelled Hermione, who was sitting on her shoulders and pulling her,

"My pleasure mudblood!" she yelled, she aimed her wand at Hermione and Hermione slipped her hand to cover Katrina's mouth so that she couldn't talk, Hermione thought that Katrina was such an awful witch that she would not be able to perform non-verbal spells, she was right, Katrina was unable to hit Hermione, she walked around and tried to shake her off.

Hermione leapfrogged off of Katrina's head and fired a spell between her legs, it hit Katrina and she flew against the wall, Hermione landed on her hands and feet and got up. Hodge walked out from the hallway and immediately started firing spells at Hermione, Hermione blocked them and fired a few herself,

"_Stupefy, Impedimenta, Expelliarmus, Stupefy, Stupefy, Stupefy_!" yelled Hermione, Hodge blocked each one of her spells as they came and he walked up to her without a shred of worry on his face, he raised his wand to Hermione, she was petrified with fear and couldn't raise her wand arm,

"_Avada,_" he started but he fell forwards before he could complete his spell, when he fell Hermione saw Ron standing behind him, wand aimed where Hodge had been standing.

The witch that had been tripped and stupefied stood up and jabbed her wand like a knife or sword when she fired her cruciartous curse at Ron, Hermione pushed Ron out of the way,

"Don't get in the way of me you stupid little girl!" yelled her shrill, piercing voice, "_Avada Kedavra_." she said and Hermione ducked and avoided it,

"_Expelliarmus_." said Rona and the witch's wand popped out of her hand, Hermione ran at her and pushed her over, she went down and she said,

"_Petrificus Totalus_." to make sure that the witch didn't get back up.

One of the wizards that they had defeated stood back up and said,

"_Crucio, Crucio_." two jets of red light headed for Ron and Hermione, they both simultaneously shouted,

"_Protego_!" and they made their shields, the spells rebounded and they both hit the wizard, he screamed in pain and his screams woke Katrina, he passed out and she came running for Hermione.

"You are so dead!" she screeched,

"The hell she is!" yelled Ron, he waved his wand and she was lifted by her ankle in the air, Hermione knew that Ron had used the Levicorpus curse. Hermione yelled,

"_Reducto_!" and Katrina screamed as her face nearly exploded, Hermione didn't know that it would do that and Ron dropped her and said,

"_Petrificus Totalus_!" Katrina went rigid and fell down,

"Is that everyone now?" asked Hermione,

"I think so." said Ron just As Hodge stood up,

"Oh for God's sake, when you people go down you should stay down." said Hermione,

"You robbed me my servants!" he yelled,

"I think you mean slaves." she said, "Slaves that you kidnapped from their homes and shoved a shock collar around their necks and forced them to do your work, so don't you dare yell at _me,_ you are in the wrong and I am in the right, you make me sick, sick, oh, and one more thing." she said,

"What would that be?" he asked, she thought '_Levicorpus_' again and he was hooked by his ankle in the air, she bashed him up and down and up and down until he had many bruises and a head wound, she then said,

"_Stupefy_." and he flew backwards down the hall.

"Well done." said Ron,

"Thank you." said Hermione,

"Are we done here?" he asked,

"Not quite." she said,

"How so?" he asked,

"We still need to call in the aurors." she said,

"True." he agreed, "True, what else?"

"We need to make sure that Rita gets what she deserves." said Hermione,

"Yes, yes we do." said Ron,

"_Petrificus Totalus_!" yelled Hermione at a wizard, who sat up and thanks to Hermione, went back down again,

"So, Rita, aurors." said Ron,

"Right, Rita, aurors." she agreed,

"I told you that my real name isn't Rita." she said as she stepped from out of the hall,

"How did you-?" asked Hermione,

"What? What, how did I escape?" she asked,

"Yes." Hermione agreed angrily,

"Do you really think that a witch as powerful as me can't use a non-wand spell to use a summoning charm to receive her wand and then bust out of a prison cell?" she asked,

"No, actually that's a new one on me." said Hermione,

"I don't need that sack, I have enough already, I guess its on." said Rita,

"I guess it was." said Hermione, wand at the ready.


	30. Chapter 30

**Employer versus Employee**

"_Avada Kedavra_!" cried Rita, Hermione ducked and avoided it,

"_Stupefy_!" Hermione yelled,

"_Impedimenta_!" cried Ron, the two spells headed for Rita and she used her wand to dissolve them, she ran and Ron and Hermione, they fired spells at her but she blocked each one, she walked right past them and went for the lift,

"Oh no you don't." said Hermione, she grabbed Rita's ponytail and pulled her back by it, stopping her from entering the lift,

"Let go of me!" she yelled, the ponytail started to slip from Hermione's hand, Rita tried to run but Hermione had a tight grip on the very tip of it, "_Diffindo_." she said and the tip of her ponytail sliced off into Hermione's palm. She ran into the lift and pressed a button, Hermione ran into the lift with her, the lift started to move backwards, Hermione pressed another button and it went forward again. Rita punched Hermione in the face and Hermione reciprocated, she tried to trip Rita up but Rita kicked her and Hermione went down to the floor, Rita kicked Hermione out of the lift and pressed a button, Hermione knelt and went back in, it moved backwards but Hermione pressed a button and it moved forwards again,

"_Expelliarmus_!" Ron tried, Rita's wand popped out of her hand and she kicked Hermione back down. She ran into the lift, pressed the button, Hermione sprang up, the lift began to move but Hermione leapt in, pressed a button and it moved forwards before the gate could close. Hermione punched Rita in the face, Rita pulled her wand arm up to Hermione and realised that she wasn't holding one, Hermione said,

"_Protego_." and Rita was pinned against the wall of the lift, Hermione was focused on her head so she didn't notice her hand slip to the button, the lift began to move backwards and Hermione quickly pressed a button and it went forwards again, she had lost her concentration and Rita was free, she bent over to grab her wand from the lift floor so Hermione kicked her in the face, she stood up and knocked Hermione's wand next to her own. Hermione grabbed the side of her head, clutching her hair and Rita did the same to Hermione, Rita head butted Hermione and she slammed against the lift wall, she slid down it and saw a knee heading for her face, she moved her head down and it only hit the wall, Rita's arm stretched to her wand, Hermione threw a random fist and luckily enough, it hit Rita in the nose, Hermione stood up and pushed Rita out of the lift but Rita dragged Hermione with her, she spun Hermione around and ran back into the lift- Ron could not help as he had just begun dueling a prisoner that gained consciousness- Rita pressed the button and the lift moved backwards but Hermione ran in, pressed another button and it went back were it was. Rita slapped Hermione around the face used her foot to kick Rita's ankle causing her to go over, Rita recovered quickly, grabbed Hermione's ankle with her hand and pulled her over, they were both on the floor, Hermione tried to get her wand and Rita tried to get hers, the wrestled on the lift floor, each one preventing the other from reaching either one of the wands, Hermione heard Ron yell,

"_Petrificus Totalus_!" and the witch he was dueling went rigid and fell to the floor, Rita lifted a leg and kicked the button, the lift started to move back and Hermione couldn't reach the button,

"Keep an eye on this lot," Hermione yelled to Ron, "Make sure they don't wake up!" the door to the lift closed and it went up, Hermione continued to roll around with Rita on the floor, punching, kicking and slapping and the lift came to an eventual stop.

Rita grabbed her wand and ran out of the lift, Hermione grabbed her own wand and chased Rita along the main floor of the Ministry, they ran past the fountain and Rita headed for the hall of fireplaces, Hermione waved her wand and bars formed in front of each fireplace, preventing access of one,

"Hey, that was my way out!" yelled Rita,

"Yes, that is why I blocked them." said Hermione,

"_Avada Kedavra_!" Rita yelled again, Hermione stepped sideways and dodged it,

"_Immobulus_!" she yelled, Rita easily blocked this and laughed at her, "_Stupefy_!" yelled Hermione, Rita blocked this as well and continued to laugh at Hermione,

"Is that the best you've got?" asked Rita, Hermione thought of marrying Ron

"_Expecto Patronum_!" Hermione cried, a silver otter emerged from her wand, ran past Rita, squeezed through the bars on the fireplace and went up the chimney, Hermione had sent a message to the aurors,

"Now I _know_ that you did not just do that." said Rita,

"I'm afraid I did." said Hermione,

"_Incendio_!" yelled Rita, to which Hermione's natural response was,

"_Aguamenti_!" water came out of Hermione's wand like a high pressure hose in one straight stream; Rita had a line of blazing fire that met with Hermione's water and they formed a line of half water and half fire.

Hermione kept her concentration, the point were the two spells met kept to the middle, Rita was more powerful than Hermione but Hermione's water extinguished Rita's flames, a lot of steam was being released upon Hermione and she could barely see but she kept her concentration and knew that the duel was still going, her hair grew to three times its normal bushiness due to the steam. Hermione skidded backwards as the power was great but she kept her spell intact and she knew that Rita was struggling too. The point where water met fire was an odd collision, the water ate through the fire yet the fire stayed the same, a lot of steam was released as a result and eventually the spells broke through each other. A wave of water gushed over Rita and a wave of fire headed for Hermione to which she cried,

"_Protego_!" and that stopped the flames but they wouldn't let up, they kept pushing harder against Hermione's invisible shield, she struggled to maintain and the flames were soon sucked away by a soaking wet Rita, she used her wand to mould the remaining fire into a ball, she then launched the fireball at Hermione but it bounced off of Hermione's shield and headed for Rita who said,

"_Protego_." she emitted her own invisible shield and the fireball bounced off of hers, it came back to Hermione but it bounced again, it kept on bouncing between the two shields over and over again until Hermione moved her shield at an angle and the fireball jetted off into the fountain water and extinguished causing steam to rise from the fountain. The two shields deteriorated.

"_Reducto_!" yelled Rita, Hermione braced herself for the curse but it had not been aimed at her; it was aimed at the ceiling above her and the rubble fell on Hermione, she pointed her wand upwards and said,

"_Wingardium Leviosa_." the rubble floated in the air above Hermione and she said, "_Depulso_." the rubble flew in Rita's direction but she merely said,

"_Reducto_." and the rubble turned to dust and fell on the floor, Rita waved her wand a pulled a brick out of the wall behind Hermione, it flew for Hermione's head but Hermione whipped around and said,

"_Diffindo_." the brick sliced in two and the two halves flew off in different directions, Hermione turned around in time to block a curse fired by Rita.

Rita made a slicing motion with her wand and said,

"_Diffindo_." Hermione heard the sound of metal piercing, she turned to her side and saw that the statue of the wizard in the fountain was tilting, it began to fall and was going to hit Hermione, Hermione yelled,

"_Reparo_!" and the statue stopped,

"_Avada Kedavra_." said Rita, Hermione walked forward, the statue shifted upwards a little and she dodged the curse, she continued to walk forwards and the wizard stood up again and the metal base reattached itself. Hermione then said,

"_Reparo, Reparo_." the dust at Rita's feet went back into the ceiling above Hermione and the sliced brick reattached itself and went back into the wall behind Hermione. A red telephone box came down from the ceiling and Rita made a run for it, Hermione aimed at the cable on top of it and yelled, "_Reducto_!" the cable snapped and the telephone box crashed to the floor and tipped over, Rita turned back to Hermione.

Rita yelled,

"_Reducto Maxima_!" and the curse flew over Hermione's shoulder, the wall behind Hermione exploded and the explosion was big and fiery, Hermione ran towards Rita and away from the explosion, Rita turned around and ran as well. They ran down the hall way filled with fire places and were chased by fire that filled all of the space between the walls,

"You've doomed us both!" Hermione yelled to Rita as they both ran from the flames, Rita was ahead of Hermione but tripped and fell over, Hermione quickly went to her and helped her up, she didn't want her to die, they continued to run and made it to the end of the hallway, there was no way out, the turned around, backs to the wall, they closed there eyes but knew that the flames were coming, Hermione felt the heat coming closer until it came to the point that she knew if she were to stick out her tongue she was to taste fire, she didn't feel the sensation of burning, just sweating, she opened her eyes and saw that the explosion was retracting back down the hallway until it became nothing, the walls were black and damaged but they repaired themselves, Hermione assumed that there must have been some sort of charm on them.

Hermione turned and saw Rita; she was standing there, frightened,

"Why did you help me?" she asked, tears in her eyes, "I tripped, you helped me up, why?" she asked,

"Because I'm a good person." said Hermione, "I would _neve_r condemn someone to death." said Hermione, Rita sobbed and said so that it was only just understandable,

"I thought I was going to die." Hermione went over and hugged her and soon found a green light fly past her face, 'You think I can't cry on demand?" yelled Rita, running back down the hallway, Hermione ran after her, Hermione fired curses forwards and Rita fired them backwards,

"_Avada Kedavra_!" yelled Rita, the curse skimmed Hermione and she quickly retaliated with,

"_Immobulus_." the spell hit Rita by chance and she was frozen in mid-run, Hermione walked up to her and say that her eyes were still moving, she then pointed her wand at her and said, "_Petrificus Totalus_." Rita stayed were she was and fell to the floor like someone had poked over a cardboard cutout of a woman. "_Incarcerous_!" yelled Hermione, ropes emerged from Hermione's wand, they tied up Rita's feet and hands and then they wrapped around her entire body until nothing but her head was showing.

Hermione waved her wand and the bars evaporated from the fireplaces and a row of them had green flames appear and people come out, Hermione saw Harry, Neville and Kingsley and knew that it was a group of aurors.

"Harry, sure, now you arrive." said Hermione,

"We tried," said Harry, "But something was stopping us." he said, Hermione knew it was the bars she had put there,

"This is her." Hermione pointed at the tied up Rita, and can a team of you go down to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, the prisoners have escaped from the holding cells." she said, half of the group dispersed over to the lift,

"Who is this?" asked Kingsley, pointing at Rita,

"Rita Gupta, at least, that's her alias, I don't know her real name but she's been stealing from the Ministry and she killed Mitzi." said Hermione,

"Really?" asked Kingsley,

"Yes," said Hermione, "And I think she's stole from many other people, her sack full of the Ministry's money is down in my office." said Hermione, Kingsley told a few aurors to retrieve the sack of money and Rita's box, they took Rita through the fireplace and before Kingsley left through the fireplace as well he said,

"Well done Miss Granger, you're a hero." Hermione smiled at this comment and Kingsley disappeared into the green flames.

Hermione then thought '_Ron'_, he was still down there and Hermione went down the lift to see him, he was still there but the prisoners were no, they were being put back by the aurors,

"A couple of them woke up but I took care of it." said Ron,

"I defeated Rita." said Hermione,

"Really, wow." said Ron,

"No need to sound so surprised." said Hermione,

"I'm not, I'm just…amazed." he said,

"Okay, you saved it with that." she said,

"Are you okay?" he asked,

"I'm fine, unscathed, I nearly died a couple of times but I made it." said Hermione,

"Well I never doubted you." he said,

"And all of the prisoners are back in the cells?" Hermione asked,

"Yep.' said Ron,

"Good," said Hermione,

"We make quite the team." said Ron,

"We really do." said Hermione, "Just proves that we're ready for marriage."

"Yes, it does," he said, "And we are, we so are." they kissed and hugged, "So," said Ron, "Home?" he asked,

"Yeah, home," she said, "Sounds great." the two of them joined hands and walked towards the lift together.


	31. Chapter 31

**A Sublime Dinner Party**

Luna sat with Hermione on the sofa, Newt and Leontes were happily playing together in front of the fireplace,

"I like that they're friends," said Luna, "Newt and me are great friends, of course, but he needs another dog to play with."

"Same with Leontes," said Hermione, "He doesn't exactly love Crookshanks." an owl flew through the open window with a newspaper and an envelope tied to its ankle, Hermione took the mail, gave the owl a Knut, it flew through the window and Hermione glanced at the issue of the _Daily Prophet_ and saw the headline: _S.P.E.W Office Worker Catches Mass-Criminal Mastermind._ Hermione continued to read,

_Mass thief, Vineeta Khan, 23(With an alias of Rita Gupta), was caught yesterday by S.P.E.W worker, Hermione Granger, 20. She was found by aurors tied up by Miss Granger after some sort of duel that took place in the Ministry of Magic. On her way out of the Ministry, Miss Khan set free the prisoners in the holding cells of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and provided the prisoners with wands. It was confessed in interrogation that Miss Khan is the murderer of Mitzi Kolinsky and the mystery thief if the country's money. She has stolen from many other Ministries in her time and we assure you that all of the money stolen by her has been returned to its rightful place and security has been tightened around background checks on Ministry employees and defences guarding the money have been increased._

_All other Ministers have been informed that Miss Khan was the thief and have gotten their money back; she has stolen from the Indian Ministry, the Chinese Ministry, an Australian bank and now the British Ministry. She skipped the trip to the holding cells and was shipped straight off to Azkaban where she currently resides in high-security cell with extra guards and her face has been posted to all wizarding Ministries and banks around the world so that she can be recognised and caught should she ever escape from prison…_

The article went on and Hermione opened the envelope underneath the newspaper and handed the paper to Luna who read it. Hermione pulled a letter from the envelope and read it:

_Dear Miss Granger,_

_ A dinner party is being thrown in your honour to celebrate the fact that you caught Vineeta (Rita), I have invited the Indian Minister, the Chinese Minister, the owners of the Australian bank and your fiancé, Mr. Weasley who helped partially the capture of Vineeta. Well done Miss Granger, you have performed a service to the world, the dinner party is to be held on June 5th in my office,_

_From Kingsley_

"What is it?" asked Luna who put down the _Daily Prophet_ and turned to Hermione,

"Me and Ron have been invited to a dinner party." said Hermione,

"Oh that's nice, I love dinner parties, when is it?" she asked,

"The day before the wedding." said Hermione,

"So in two days?" asked Luna,

"Yes." said Hermione,

"So," said Luna, "Shall we take these two for a walk?"

"Okay then," said Hermione, "You go and get the leads."

Hermione put on a sequin dress two days later, it was for the dinner party, Ron entered the room,

"You look amazing." he said,

"Not as amazing as I'll look tomorrow, because…we're getting married tomorrow!" she exclaimed,

"I know, you've said that six times today," he said, "And now seven."

"Well yes," she said, "Maybe because…we're getting married tomorrow!" she exclaimed happily again, Ron hugged her and muttered,

"Eight." when he did so, "So are you excited that they're celebrating your achievement?" he asked,

"I am actually, I've never met any other Ministers before besides the British one." said Hermione,

"Neither have I." said Ron,

"So, you ready?" she asked,

"I thought that it was meant to be me asking you that question." he said, Hermione laughed,

"But are you?" she asked again,

"Yep, I'm good to go." he said,

"Well then," she continued, "Let's be off." They walked down the stairs and out the front door, the two of them dissapparated.

They appeared outside of a red telephone box,

"Oh, I see we're taking the visitors entrance." said Hermione, Ron nodded, "Better than flushing myself down a loo." she said,

"Much better." he said, they stepped into the phone box, Ron pulled out some muggle money, put it in the slot and phoned a certain number, they sank into the ground, still in the box, and were lowered down into the main floor of the Ministry, the door opened and the two of them stepped out.

They walked to the lift together and went down, the voice said,

"Floor two, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement." they stepped out and made their way to Kinsley's office. it was not in its regular setup, the desk had gone and been replaced with a long dinner table with seven chairs around it, all but two were full with Kingsley, three other men and a woman.

"Ah, Miss Granger, Mr. Weasley, we were beginning to think that you wouldn't be joining us." said Kingsley, "Have a seat." Hermione and Ron sat down in the two empty chairs, "Well, I suppose soon I shall be introducing the two of you as Mr. and Mrs. Weasley."

"I suppose you shall." said Hermione,

"Are you getting married?" asked the woman who spoke with an Australian accent,

"Yes, we are, tomorrow." said Ron,

"Really?" asked the woman, "Well that's great."

"Miss Granger, Mr. Weasley, I'd like to introduce you to Heather Winter, John Sherbet, Bao-Zhi Li and Radhak Chopra." said Kingsley,

"It's nice to meet you all." said Hermione,

"Very nice." said Ron,

"So how did you all know Vineeta?" asked Hermione,

"She came and worked for me," said Li, the Chinese Minister, "She got some small part in a department and then she robbed the location of our country's vault and then robbed that." he said, "Multiple times." he added,

"I was in a similar deal," said Chopra, the Indian Minister, "She was the daughter of one of my employees who begged for me to give her a job, I reluctantly accepted and then she robbed us blind in the blink of an eye, we didn't know it was her as she faked her own death before she left."

"She did the same to us," said Sherbet, one of the owners of the Australian bank, "Faked her death I mean."

"Yes," said Heather, "She got close to us too, became our friend, we loved her, we brought her on as a partner, when some money started to go missing, we asked her but she acted as surprised as we were, the night she '_died_' was the night that most of the money went missing." she said, "It was a bit too convenient for my taste."

"How did she fake her death?" asked Ron,

"She paid someone to put it in the obituaries, put some of her blood in the boot of a random muggle's car to make it look like she was murdered and she fled, with our money." said Sherbet,

"She did that to us too." said Chopra, "Except she put the blood on the front of the car instead of in the boot to make it look like she'd been run over."

"Well this is all very interesting, but I'd like some food now," said Kingsley, he waved his wand and food appeared on the table in front of each guest much like at the Hogwarts feast.

"So Kingsley, what's your story with Vineeta?" asked Li,

"Well you'd have to ask Miss Granger." said Kingsley,

"Well Miss Granger?" asked Li,

"Oh, well, she came in for an interview and I hired her to be my assistant, she seemed great all through the time she was here, some money went missing and a woman was murdered, I never would have expected it be her, she was so sweet, so innocent, and then I accidentally caught her in the act one night, we battled and then I won." said Hermione,

"Ah yes, she seemed sweet and innocent to us too." said Heather.

They ate their meal and continued to discuss Vineeta,

"Did any of you ever suspect her?" asked Kingsley,

"No, not really." said Sherbet,

"A bit," said Chopra, "She wasn't working for me for long, she came in, got the money and left, she always seemed so confident and yet aggravated around everyone, early days as a thief I suppose,"

"I didn't, she built a reputation throughout my Ministry as being a very good person." said Li,

"I suspected some odd things, I saw her perform some strong magic and she was nervous when I'd ask her where she was one night and now I know that those nights were the nights that she stole." said Hermione.

They moved onto dessert which Ron enjoyed,

"And Mr. Weasley," asked Chopra, "How did you participate in the capture of Miss Khan?"

"Oh, I fought the prisoners she set lose and I interrupted her from wiping Hermione's mind." he said.

Eventually the dinner came to a close and Hermione and Ron went home,

"Let's go to bed then," he said on the porch,

"No, no, no, no, no." said Hermione, "You aren't sleeping here tonight, remember?"

"Oh yeah," he said,

"Are you all ready to stay at Harry and Ginny's?" asked Hermione,

"Yes, so tell me why we can't sleep _together_?" he asked,

"Because," she said, "Its bad luck for the bride and groom to see each other on the wedding day." said Hermione,

"Okay." he said, "Let me just get some things." he said, he went into the house, packed his suit, his toiletries and some other things and he came to kiss Hermione goodbye, "I'll see you tomorrow," he said, "I'll be the handsome fellow in the suit." he said,

"I'll see you then, I'll be wearing the white dress," she said, "I'm really excited." said Hermione,

"Me too." he said, they kissed and he left for number twelve Grimmauld Place to stay the night, Hermione got changed and went to sleep, the next day was going to be a big day.


	32. Chapter 32

**Happily Ever After**

Hermione woke up the next morning lying in bed, she stared at her wedding dress that was hanging off of the open wardrobe door, she smiled and a wave of excitement washed over her,

"Come on, wake up, get ready, you're getting married today." said Ginny who burst into her room followed by Luna and Demelza,

"How did you get in here?" asked Hermione,

"We let our selves' in." said Ginny,

"Okay, shall we get going?" asked Hermione,

"I think that we shall." said Luna,

"You might want to get dressed first." said Demelza; she zipped the dress up in a bag so that it was all ready to go. Hermione got dressed in a random outfit and they walked out of the door and dissapparated.

They appeared outside of Le Grand Hôtel and walked into it, they made it into a dressing room that was inside the hotel and began to get ready,

"Did the guests settle in alright here last night?" asked Hermione,

"Yes, I made sure they were." said Luna,

"Thanks." she said, "Have any of you seen Ron this morning?"

"Yes, I have, he stayed at my house." said Ginny,

"How is he?" she asked,

"He's very excited." said Ginny,

"Oh I just love weddings." said Luna,

"Me too." said Demelza,

"Two people announcing their love to one another for the world to recall." said Luna,

"Yeah." Demelza sighed. Hermione got her make up ready and Ginny did her hair, by the end it wasn't the bushy mess that it usually was but it fell in curly locks beside and behind her head. Ginny and Demelza had their hair down but Luna had a ponytail, they put on their flowy bridesmaids dresses, Ginny's black, the others' red. Hermione changed into her perfect gown that she had purchased earlier in the year and the girls said,

"Oh, Hermione you look beautiful." said Luna,

"You do, you absolutely do." said Demelza,

"Amazing, just…amazing." said Ginny, Hermione hugged the three of them and put on her veil that fitted her style perfectly.

They sat around for a while,

"Are you nervous?" asked Demelza,

"No," said Hermione honestly, "I'm not, I'm more excited."

"Well good for you." said Ginny,

"No, seriously, I'm not, I thought I would be but I'm really excited, I'm going to marry Ron." she said,

"There's my little girl." said Hermione's mother, who had just entered the room,

"Mum.' said Hermione, she hugged her and her mother said,

"You look beautiful,"

"Thanks." said Hermione,

"You're all ready?" she asked,

"Yep." said Luna.

Hermione made sure that the pearls on her ears were old, the shoes on her feet were new, the make up on her face was borrowed and the girder on her leg was blue.

"You look beautiful." said her father, who was ready to walk her down the isle,

"I love you Dad." she said, the door to the room opened and Hermione saw that it was elegantly decorated, she walked forward down the isle, her father on her side: right, together, left, together. She saw the hall full of people on both sides of the isle, she saw Demelza, Luna and Ginny standing next to where she would be standing, she saw Harry in a suit, she saw the minister ready to perform the service and most importantly, she saw Ron, standing there, staring at her and smiling, she made it to the end of the isle, her father took a moment to look at her, he kissed on the forehead and sat down next to her mother.

She stood next to Ron who mouthed the words '_You look beautiful_', Hermione was hearing that a lot that day,

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered hear today to witness the union of Ronald Bilius Weasley and Hermione Jean Granger…" he talked for a while, all of that time Hermione and Ron were staring at each other, finally he came to the good bit, "Hermione, do take Ronald to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer and for poorer until death do you part?"

"I do." said Hermione, it came out easily, she loved Ron, she wanted this to happen,

"Ronald, do you take Hermione to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer and for poorer until death do you part?" asked the minister, Ron smiled at Hermione,

"I do." he said, she smiled back and the minister asked for the rings, Teddy walked up the isle with a velvet pillow containing two golden bands in his arms, Ron took a ring and Hermione's left hand.

"Today," said Ron, "A day of happiness and love, I pledge to share the rest of my life with you as a team, so we can work together through life's struggles, I know that there are many, but they'll be easy to face as long as I have you by my side, Hermione, I give myself as your husband." Ron put the ring on her finger, Hermione picked up the other ring and Ron's left hand,

"I give myself for a life commitment to you," Hermione started, "A life of growth and sharing, I plan to wipe away your tears with laughter and your pain with my compassion, from this day forth I give myself to you completely, I give myself to you as I am and as I always will be, I love you, and I will continue to love you forever." she put the ring on his finger and waited for those inevitable words, the minister said,

"You may kiss the bride." Ron pulled Hermione's veil back over her head, revealing her face and he kissed her, it was the best kiss that the two of them had ever shared and Hermione almost never wanted that moment to end, it seemed that they were the only two people in the world, the moment came to a close and Hermione was left smiling, staring at Ron's face that was smiling back.

They sat at the reception, Hermione and Ron were the centre of attention, the guests chanted for the happy couple to kiss and they did so. They were all enjoying their meals, her father stood up and tapped his glass with his fork, the guests all stared,

"Thank you," he said, "I would like to start off by thanking you all for being here today, it means a lot to me and the happy couple, I'd also like to welcome my new son in law into the family," he turned to Ron, "Welcome son," they shook hands, "We met briefly over Christmas and I can honestly say that he has the potential to become the son I never had, not only has he fulfilled that roll, but he makes my Hermione happy, and that's the most important thing of all, to them and their life together." he raised his glass as did everybody else.

Part way through the main course, Ron stood up to give _his_ speech, everybody stopped to look at him,

"I hope you're all enjoying your meals, I know that I certainly am," he said, "I would like to thank my new father in law for those kind words, they meant a lot to me and I know that he and my new mother in law will be a shining example to guide me and my new bride through marriage, I would like to thank my parents too who helped a lot in setting this up and in raising me to be a good enough man for this remarkable woman, and she is remarkable, to Hermione." he raised his glass as did the guests who said,

"To Hermione." in unison.

Slightly later through the dinner, Harry stood up to give his Best Man speech,

"Hello everyone, now, I've known Ron and Hermione for a very long time, I've known them together and I've known them apart, I've known them apart when it was very obvious that they wanted to be together too," the guests gave a mild laugh and Harry continued, "I first met Ron on the Hogwarts Express on our first day of school and I met Hermione a few hours later, we've progressed as friends over the last nine years, we've been through a lot together, I've seen these two progress as a couple and after many, _many _arguments they finally got there, and I know of no two people more suited to each other, to the happy couple." He raised his glass as did the guests and they carried on.

After dessert, the floor was cleared for dancing, the band was set up and ready to play, they started the song and Hermione and Ron started dancing together, they hit everything that they had practiced perfectly and everyone standing around them looked very impressed, Harry and Ginny soon joined in, then Luna and Seamus Finnegan (A random pairing that Hermione had thrown together), then Demelza and Mitchell, then Hermione's mother and father and then Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, soon every one of the guests were dancing, Hermione saw Neville and Hannah also, the song came to an end and Hermione jumped into Ron's arms and was caught by him, the moment froze and she felt like she was flying, soaring through the air and that Ron was guiding her. The moment un-froze and Hermione was lowered back down to the ground.

"That went well." said Ron,

"Yes it did." said Hermione, they kissed again.

Over the passing hour the dance floor became less as people were eating and socializing and sitting out from too much dancing, Ron was talking to Harry, Seamus, Dean and Neville, they were enjoying the chocolate fountain and Hermione's father came up to her,

"May I have this dance?" he asked,

"You may." she said, her and her father danced until the end of the song and at the end of the song, Ginny took the microphone and began talking,

"I would like to congratulate the happy couple, this day is special for me in two ways, because not only is my best friend getting married, who is incidentally one of the kindest and most polite people that I have ever met, but also my brother, and he's the best brother a girl could ask for, thank you for your time, one more time, congratulations to the happy couple." she said, the guests clapped and carried on with what they were doing. Hermione and Ron were both quite touched by this.

Soon the wedding cake came out, it looked just as Hermione had pictured it, it was time for her and Ron to cut the cake and they took the knife together, they made the first cut and the people clapped, they cut out two slices and picked up one each, they fed each other the cake and it tasted delicious, Hermione was happy with the baker.

Guests began to leave as it was evening and Hermione and Ron had just finished their final dance, they stepped out of the hotel, they remaining guests lined up, Hermione and Ron walked through them and they threw confetti on Ron and Hermione. They ran for the shining white limousine that was waiting for them, they got to the door of it, opened it and kissed, Ron got in and Hermione waved to all of the guests, they clapped and Hermione got in the limousine. She closed the door and kissed Ron again,

"Well, we pulled off the perfect wedding." said Ron,

"Yes," Hermione replied, "The perfect wedding." The limousine drove and Hermione heard the rattle of the strings of cans that had been tied to the back of the limo on the road, before she got in, Hermione had seen the sign above the cans the sign that said: _Just Married._

**Completed on 19th January 2012**


End file.
